Steel Meets Iron

Chapter 6

Coulson called Tony to S.H.I.E.L.D. for an official meeting with Nick Fury about Raven, which downright pissed him off. She was seven for Christ's sake. How could she compromise anything? It was obvious that everyone would know about her now. Coulson suggested (and Tony stretched that word) that Bruce should relocate to HQ, for Raven's sake. Bruce agreed all too happily and Tony just wanted his head to stop pounding. Raven was not afraid of Bruce. Pepper had told her that Bruce had a condition which made him turn into the Hulk. She had to be nice, not rude and not try to scare him, which meant playing no jokes on him. She had nodded her head understanding completely and got along with Bruce fine. Raven was a child but she wasn't that big of a deal - well, not to them. She was a big deal to him, he hated to admit it. The tyke actually hugged him before he left, a serious strangle-you-to-death hug. They were growing on each other.

He didn't want her to worry about him being Iron Man, it nearly made Pepper breakdown, he didn't wanted to speculate what it would do to a little girl, his little Beethoven Baby. He knew Marshall Helms was a "monster" yet Raven adored him, she knew it was a bad guy but he was all she had, she knew from then to accept what she had and roll with it. He didn't want for her to... settle for the bad things because she thought had to. He wanted to be a good dad, better than his own father. He did want the Avengers to meet her but he was still trying to get her to... acknowledge him. She still called him Tony in the same tone she called everyone else's name, no extra ounce of special affection. It just showed how unused to this she was, she got used to the house, the city, Pepper, Happy but not him.

She wasn't used to everything that was him, she was used to her close-knit impromptu family with its toxic drama, she was used to playing with other kids not being holed up in a literal Tower all day. The technology was another thing altogether. She was still nervous about Jarvis and all his equipment scared her, the way he could make things pop up made her jump. The bright lights of the city kept her up many nights at first. She never once had the urge to tinker with his everyday stuff just to see how they worked, she would watch him and Pepper and learned that way. Technology unsettled her, the daughter of a futurist. He was still getting used to that aspect of her personality.

Raven loved music. She spent hours practicing the damn cello in her room, and listened to entire CDs for the other hours she wasn't practicing. She would lie there conducting her own little orchestra. She thought AC/DC was alright but she preferred indie music and basically anything with a nice beat she could follow with her fingers. She loved classical music, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. She liked art, Van Gogh and Di Vinci, Fauvists and impressionists. He had no idea where her fascination with art came from, seven-year-olds weren't supposed to have a deep appreciation for art. Music is her technology, Pepper always told him, what you see in metal and wires she sees in art and music. It made sense but he still didn't get it. Pepper said that she was in an advance group for her cello, that her tutors wanted her to headline the recital before school started back.

"You've been quiet," Bruce remarked. "Still pissed?"

"Who has a DE-briefing about a seven-year-old?" He was getting a headache out of anticipation. "She has a heart condition," he confessed. "If you freak this kid out enough she drops like that," he snapped his fingers. "She could have heart failure. The last thing she needs a military DE-briefing and a field trip of HQ."

Bruce sat up, the inner village doctor concerned. "A heart condition? A birth defect or hereditary?"

"Birth defect. She's got a hole in her heart. Her last doctor said it's nothing serious, but to keep an eye on her when she gets hyper."

Bruce nodded. "I see. You think she's going to get overwhelmed by all this."

"I know it. She gets skittish with meeting some of Pepper's minions, imagine Nick Fury. She'll piss herself, if she doesn't get scared shit-less first."