Alex's Diary, Entry One

The first day back at work after an extended absence is always the worst. At least, that is what I imagine. I've never actually been absent from work before.

Not that I really need this job. I don't. A perk of being the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the country, if not the planet, is that I actually don't have to worry about ever getting a job. At least, that's what Dad has always told me. But, I don't want to do nothing for the rest of my life, so I go to work.

I'm a history fanatic, if I'm being completely honest, so I got myself a job as a historian at the local museum. I can't say that my job is overly difficult. If anything, it's a ton of fun. It's the kind of job that I want to have before I end up having to work in the family business. Joining the family business isn't a bad thing and I can certainly handle it with no problems. I inherited my brain from Dad and, just like him, I graduated from everything early, whether it was elementary school, high school, or even college. Dad calls both of us geniuses, but I like to try and at least be a little bit humble. Dad has already started the process of showing me around the company and explaining how everything operates and showing me things that the company is working on. I will admit that it is interesting, but I'm not ready to have to deal with such things just yet. Hence why I love the job I currently have.

But, I haven't actually been at my job for a good six months or so, so I have no idea what's awaiting me when I get there.

The reason for my extended absence was the fact that I was re-learning how to walk, so to speak. One night, on the way home from my previously mentioned job, I was hit by a drunk driver and lost the ability to move pretty much any of the muscles in my body. Doctors didn't think that I'd make it, but I proved them wrong. The only reason that I am able to walk, write, drive, and do anything like a normal human being is because of Dad. He and the staff at Stark Industries, the previously mentioned family business, plus some of the world's best doctors created a device that sticks into my spine and stimulates the nerves and muscles into doing their jobs again. If I have my device in, I'm just like any other teenage girl. But, if it is removed for at maximum a half an hour, I would be a complete paralytic once more. I call my device Spinal Tap. You know, cause it's tapping into my spine. Cheesy, I know, but I can't help myself.

Needless to say, I don't want to take Spinal Tap out. Ever.

Since the accident, it's been 24/7 Dad time. Despite his public behavior, Dad can be quite overprotective, even more so since the accident. It's not a bad thing to be with Dad so much, but it will be nice to see some other familiar faces. Dad doesn't really want me to go back to work tomorrow, because when I'm there he can't keep an eye on me, but I don't really want him to go to freaking Afghanistan tomorrow, so we're at a draw.

But, let's be honest, even if Dad wasn't going into a war zone tomorrow, I'd still be going to the museum. I can't stay in this house forever…

Alex sighed as she paused in her writing and looked out her bedroom window, which overlooked the ocean. The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing. It was what she considered a perfect day. And, on top of that, she was home alone. Well, JARVIS was there, but other than that no other human was in the house. That hadn't happened since the accident. After coming home from the hospital, Alex's father had put her under a constant watch. Alex wouldn't even be surprised if her father had bodyguards follow her whenever she left the house from now on. Being the daughter of a billionaire had its downfalls as well as its perks. Being Tony Stark's daughter was a completely different story. Her father was one of the most famous men in the world…or so she had heard.

"Alexandra, your father and Miss. Potts have just pulled into the driveway."

It was fun while it lasted.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Alex replied, as she closed her diary and put her pen down. "Shall I go greet them or will you?"

"I will, if you wish, Alexandra."

"I was kidding, JARVIS," Alex said. She stood and headed down to meet her father and Pepper. "Will I ever be able to get you to call me Alex?"

"Highly unlikely."

"Fair enough." Alex quickly went down the stairs and smiled when she saw her father and Pepper sitting in the living room. "So, whatcha doing?"

Tony looked up and smiled when he saw his daughter approach. "Hey, Angel. We were just talking about the party tonight."

"Party?" Alex questioned. "What party?"

"The awards ceremony tonight in Las Vegas," Pepper replied. She looked at Alex as a mother would look at a daughter, despite the fact that she was Tony's personal assistant. "Did you forget? I told you to write it down…"

"Me? Forget?" Alex said, innocently. She pointed at her head. "Pepper, this mind does not forget anything. But, did tonight's ceremony accidentally slip my mind? Yes."

"Well, fortunately for you, I made sure that a dress was prepared for you," Pepper replied, as Tony laughed. "It should be in your closet."

"Oh, she is good," Alex said, as she pointed at Pepper and turned to go back to her room to see which dress Pepper had picked for her. "Don't let this one go, Dad. I like her."

"Your wish is my command, Angel," Tony replied. He turned back to Pepper as Alex practically bounded up the stairs. "Which one did you pick?"

Pepper sighed a little. "A low cut one…"

"Pepper!"

"I'm sorry, Tony. But, Alex will look stunning in this dress. Before the accident, you didn't care what kind of dress she wore, as long as it was appropriate. Alex doesn't have a problem with Spinal Tap, so why do you?"

Tony looked away from her. "I don't want anyone to see Alex's device," he admitted. "I don't want anyone to bring it up to her and cause her to re-live horrible times."

"Do you not want that to happen to Alex or to yourself?"

Tony looked back at Pepper, who couldn't help but see the pain in his eyes. She knew that it was Tony who didn't want to be reminded about the night that he almost lost his daughter…his world…

"That night haunts me more than anything else I have experienced in my entire life," Tony admitted, with a somewhat shaky voice that almost caught Pepper off guard. "You remember that night, don't you?"

Pepper nodded. "Of course I do. I don't think that I will ever be able to forget," she said. "But, Alex needs her life to get back to normal. I know that you just want to protect her, Tony, but she still needs to live her life. Her device is helping her do everything that she did before, so you need to allow her get back into her routine."

"I know, but…" Tony stopped when Alex came back downstairs.

"Love the dress, Pepper!" Alex said. "Excellent choice, as always."

Pepper smiled. "Glad you like it."

"What time are we leaving?" Alex asked.

"A couple of hours. The thing's in Vegas, after all." Tony motioned back to the stairs. "So, you better get back upstairs and start getting ready. We all know that takes you forever and a day."

"At least I will bother to show up."

Tony made a face at his daughter as she smiled at him and turned to go back upstairs. "I'm going to prove you wrong this time."

Alex looked over her shoulder. "No, you won't."

Tony watched as Alex went back up the stairs, taking them two at a time. His eyes never left the glowing purple circle in the middle of her back. Pepper put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know that you worry about her," she said. "But, she'll be fine. If she can make it through this ordeal, she can make it through anything."

This is a re-write of my original Iron Man FanFic of the same name under my old FanFiction account (WWWLover), which I had started writing all the way back in 2010 and which ended up being un-finished...until now!

After seeing Endgame, I was finally inspired to write this story again, and make some changes now that, hopefully, my writing style has improved. The now-completed Infinity Saga has given me a lot of ideas as to what I would like to see happen with my OC and how I want her to fit into the MCU. I think that this is going to be a lot of fun!

In this first installment of what I like to call the "Iron Angel Saga", some things will be the same as the Original Version and others will be different. I am really hoping that I have been able to maintain my ability to keep the Canon characters in character, but if I feel that something or someone is really OOC, I will warn you.

I hope that you enjoy this first chapter! Please read and review!