The Secrets of Petra (Parker) Stark

5

2010

Tony was dying. 

There was no other way of saying it. No skirting around it, no fluffing it up. The very thing keeping him alive was slowly killing him. Tony had no idea what to do. No plan. Nothing. He tried every possible combination of elements, and each one of them would end in his death. 

Gosh, what was he going to tell Pepper?

Tony was never good at communicating in the first place, but how was he supposed to tell his wife that she would be a widow in a few months at most?

Between running simulations on element combinations, going to court meetings for the Ironman suit, and making appearances at the Stark Expo, Tony was doing everything he could to find his missing daughter.

After going through Stane's files, they were able to discover that Stane was the one behind Anne's kidnapping. Other than that, it was a dead end.

Tony never should have trusted Stane.

Tony searched desperately for Anne, but there was not much he could do. Was it too much to ask to see his long lost daughter before he died?

"Mrs. Stark is on her way," Jarvis informed Tony, interrupting his thoughts.

"Thanks J." With a few clicks and a swipe of his hands, Tony hid what he had been working on.

"Tony."

Tony looked up from his work table. "Hey, Pep."

"It's late. You should come upstairs."

"I have so much work to do." And so little time.

Pepper rested her hands on his shoulders. "You've been working nonstop for days. Come upstairs. Please?"

"Pepper-"

"No, Tony. I won't take no for an answer. Whatever it is, it can wait. You need to eat. And sleep."

"I'll come up later. I promise." 

Pepper removed her hands from his shoulders and walked around to the other side of the table so that it was facing her. "You said that yesterday, and you never came up. What's wrong? You've been acting strange lately."

Tony shook his head. "Nothing's wrong," he lied.

"Tony."

Knowing she was on to him, he changed the subject. "Hey, how do you feel about being CEO of the company?" 

"What?"

"You practically run the company anyways, and I just hole myself up here in my workshop- Yes, Pepper, I'll admit it- so the media wouldn't be that surprised. Plus even if you weren't my wife, you're the most capable, hard-working person I know."

The changing the subject thing worked, because Pepper was very caught of guard and totally distracted. "I- I mean, wow."

"So what do you say?"

"Yes! Yes, of course. Just... Wow."

Perfect. Now he would not have to worry about what happened to Stark Industries after he died, and he knew that his wife would have a good paying job and be able to remain financially stable. Now, to deal with finding Anne so that Pepper would not be left alone.

-

The next few weeks were a blur. As Tony's condition got progressively worse, being the emotionally stunted person he was, did his best to push his loved ones away in hope that it would hurt less after he passed.

There was also the whole thing with Ivan Vanko who was making attempts to bring Tony's death date closer, and Justin Hammer, who was being an idiot. Then there was the attack on Stark Expo, initiated by Vanko but if Hammer was less of an idiot it could have been avoided.

This is of course, not to mention the fact that the woman that was hired to be Pepper's personal assistant was actually an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Tony was still a little bit shocked from that. 

Luckily, by the end of that chaotic mess, Tony was able to (re)discover an element that could replace the arc reactor and save his life. 

Pepper had interrupted Tony's excited ramblings on the element that saved his life after the whole ordeal with a disbelieving, "You were going to die!?"

Tony winced. "Yes?"

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I know, I know, I'm terrible. But in my defense, I didn't want to worry you!"

"You didn't want to- Tony! You- I- Ugh!"

Oh, and let's not forget the part where Nick Fury, the guy who runs S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted Tony as a consultant, but not a member of his super-secret-boy-band because of the fake (half-fake) persona that he puts on in front of everyone that's not part of his inner circle. 

Yeah, Tony was a little bitter at that, but he had more important things to worry about, like finding his missing daughter.

-

It is honestly a shame that Tony had not realized that he had met his child at the Stark Expo. On the other hand, Petra Parker would never forget the first time she met Tony Stark. 

Petra had begged her aunt and uncle to take her to the Stark Expo. Although she did not fully understand all the science and technology, she was super enthusiastic about going. She even wore the Ironman helmet that May and Ben had given her for her birthday. It was a lucky thing she wore it... Or maybe it was unlucky?

When the Hammer-robot-things attacked, Petra got separated from her aunt and uncle. Being the clueless kid she was, when a Hammer Drone landed in front of her, rather than running, she lifted her hand up, thinking that, like Ironman, she could fire at it. Just in time, Ironman himself landed right behind her, redirecting the drone's attention and saving Petra from certain death.

"Nice work, kid," Ironman had told her.

Petra watched in awe as her hero flew away. Then Petra looked around, realizing for the first time that her aunt and uncle were no longer with her. Petra ran to the entrance of the Expo, following the crowd of people. Eventually, she was able to find May and Ben. 

-

2011

So far, so not good. It had been seven years since Anne Margaret Stark had been kidnapped. She would have been eight.

Tony and Pepper were starting to give up hope. All they could ever find were dead ends. Who knew what Stane had done with the girl. She could be dead by now. Best case scenario, Anne was given to a loving family who cared for her. They hoped that Anne, wherever she was, was happy and healthy. If that was the case, both Tony and Pepper wondered if it would be fair to take their child back if she had a good life. 

They would cross that bridge if it came to it. 

So sorry this is shorter than usual... Next update on Thursday (my time lol)