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December 15th, 2008
It had been two weeks since Tony Stark's grand reveal. The world now believed, just as Coulson had promised, that Obadiah Stane had died during his vacation in an aircraft crash. A funeral was held, and Stark attended, but his name was never discussed again afterward. Obadiah was dead and buried, and everybody was moving on.
Christmas was just around the corner, and because Charlotte had been doing physically and emotionally healthier since the whole debacle, she was eager to enjoy the holidays. Especially since this year had not been a great one for the Stark's. Ten months ago, her father was abducted, and that seriously traumatized the seven-year-old. Even though the adults around her seemed to just move on because her dad was back home, and the dust seemed to have settled, Charlotte continued to have nightmares about her dad. She dreamed, nearly every night that he was not coming home, that the terrorists had succeeded, and that Obadiah had been true to his promise to kill both her and her mother.
She tried not to be too clingy, but her anxiety was heightened over being separated from her parents, and more so from her father. Since the entire world discovered he was Iron Man, Tony was busier than ever. The military was trying to apprehend him and question him about the suits - he hadn't admitted this to charlotte, but as usual, she was intuitive and observant.
There was, however, still things that she did not understand - she was too young, but she knew that she would grow to understand them, and just possibly, she would face some of the same issues herself.
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1:37 AM
All Charlotte wanted was a glass of water. Instead, someone who had broken into her house approached her. At the bottom of the stairs, she froze, watching the mysterious man, her eyes tired and uncertain. How had he gotten inside, and why had J.A.R.V.I.S not alerted them to his intrusion?
"Charlotte Maria Stark." The man said with a smile.
"Oh, we're using middle names?" Charlotte spoke as she walked right by him and into the kitchen, taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator. The man chuckled quietly, and she narrowed her eyes at him. She could not understand how he was acting so calm. He had broken into her house, someone had disabled their security systems, and yet he seemed unfazed.
"You should leave. The police are on their way." She lied.
"No, they aren't," The man replied. "You didn't call the police."
"How do you know that I didn't?"
"Because you're an intelligent girl. If you thought that I was a threat, even for a second, you would have called for your father." He was not wrong. She did not feel unsafe by his sudden presence, just uncertain. Charlotte narrowed her eyes, looking up at the man curiously.
"Maybe I should go and wake my dad?" She had intended for it to sound threatening, but it was more questionable.
"Please do, Miss Stark." He smiled again. "I need to speak to him, as a matter of fact."
"Okay," Charlotte spoke slowly, unsure about this entire conversation. Not taking her eyes off the man as she left the room, she quietly skipped up the stairs and approached her parent's room, cautiously watching over her shoulder as she went. Peering her head around the door, she was met with the soft snores of her father. Her mom was sleeping with her back facing him, her shoulders rising and falling gently.
Walking over to her dad's side of the bed, she was careful not to wake her mom. "Dad," She whispered, gently shaking his shoulder, "Wake up."
"Hm?" His voice was groggy and his brows pinched together as he whispered. "Charlie, it is two in the morning. What is it?"
"There's a man downstairs."
Tony's eyes opened quickly, locking with his daughters. Sitting upright in bed he glanced over at Pepper, making sure that he hadn't disturbed her. satisfied that she was still asleep he turned to Charlotte. "What's happening? Who is downstairs?"
"I don't know, a man. He said he needs to talk to you."
Tony gave her a confused stare, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he pulled a shirt over his chest. Charlotte decided that her dad was moving too slow for her liking and so she grabbed ahold of his hand and quickly led him down the hallway to the stairs. Once she had dragged him into the living room, she saw that the man now had his back turned to them as he gazed out of the tall windows.
Tony looked at the man, confused by the entire situation. Placing a firm hand on her shoulder, he moved Charlotte so she was positioned behind him. Her small fists tightly grasped his shirt.
"I am Iron Man." The man spoke, turning and walking towards the pair. "Do you think that you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you have become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet."
"Who the hell are you?" Tony asked, still holding his arm tightly around Charlotte's shoulder as the girl looked up between him and the man.
The man walked forward, stepping into the light and Charlotte was finally able to get a better look at him. He was bald, his face was aged, but not old. An eyepatch covered his left eye. He was well dressed in black; he gave Charlotte a quick, reassuring smile before speaking, "I'm Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You may have heard of us as the Strategic, Homeland, Intervention, Enfor -"
"Enforcement and Logistics Department. Looks like Phil found an acronym." Charlotte chipped in, smiling. Nick Fury tilted his head and looked at the girl, an impressed glint in his eye. Meanwhile Tony frowned as he looked down at his daughter, confused. Noticing the glances of the two men, she shrunk further behind her dad, shrugging. "Why are you here, Mr. Fury?" Nick looked at the girl for a few seconds, intrigued, before turning his gaze back to Tony.
"I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."
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And here we are, the end of Iron Man! Just a short chapter to wrap up everything up.
Thank you so much to everyone who has read, voted, commented, and added this story to their reading lists - it means so much! I'm having so much fun writing Charlotte's character, and I can't wait for her to start interacting with the rest of the Avengers.
