Title: New Pair Of Genes
Rating: FRK
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just the idea.
Spoilers: The movie, I guess.
Summary: Oneshot. The Stark genes wreak havoc once again. Movieverse. Fluff!
I recently say IM for the first time (yeah, I'm a late bloomer), and fell instantly for Pepperony. Since then, I've seen it 10 times :P
My first Iron Man fic! Yay! And I have 2 more in the works…If you like this one, chances are I shall finish the other ones.
The caramel coloured ceramic tile was cool against her palms as they slapped happily against the unyielding base underneath her. Helplessly dragging her prone victim behind her, she giggled merely as every so often, her linen encased knees or feet would slip and slide along the slippery surface.
Lifting her head upwards, she unskillfully examined the things around her; a big thing to her left that curved around the room, a smaller big thing in the middle, and a few other smallish big things placed sporadically in the area surrounding her.
Resting on all fours, she turned 360 degrees, eying a white gate looking thing just before a great big whole in the floor.
"Mmmmahhhgh," she playfully cooed, padding her way to the mysterious being, her victim still in her grasp. Approaching the set of bars, she kicked her feet in front of her, and with a small thump, had plopped herself on her rear, fingers (now more entertained with the thing in front of her then her victim) grabbing at the bars.
"Daaaahhhh," she wrinkled her nose when the bars refused to budge, frantically shaking her small body at each of her efforts. "Daahhhggg!"
Frustrated, she let out a small huff and kicked a foot out to her side.
Mistake.
Her now forgotten victim disappeared from view as he fell through the bars of the gate, tumbling head over heels down the stairs and landing with a small ruffle of shifted fabric.
Tears welled in her eyes, her jaw started to tremble, and her little cheeks turned pink.
Panicked, she did all she could.
She cried.
Alarmed, he brought his head up and smacked it right into the metal undercarriage. Mumbling some curse words, he threw down a socket wrench and pulled out.
"Jarvis, how the hell did she get out here?" Tony asked, swiftly sliding out from under the frame of his most recent purchase, a hot off the production line Fisker Karma hybrid (with some Stark tweaks); both ecologically friendly, and fast when it should to be, to investigate the noise coming from somewhere upstairs.
"At precisely 1:43:13 PM, Miss Stark successfully ascended the bars of her crib, descended the stairwell at 3.73 steps per minute, and proceeded to crawl to the descending workshop steps."
"What?!" Tony bellowed, nearly having a fit. Haphazardly, he kicked a car creeper out of his path, and sprung across the room.
"I thought I told you to monitor for problems," Tony scolded the air around him, moving to the sink in the kitchenette to quickly, though thoroughly, wash his hands free of grease and grime. It slightly delayed seeing to the tiny wails, but even he wasn't stupid enough to touch an infant with dirty hands.
"I apologize, Sir, but you did not specify the parameters of problematic behavior," was the British voice that replied, sounding incredibly sincere for a computer, as Tony darted out his workshop and up the stairs two at a time. Reaching the top, he leaned over the gate and gingerly cuddled the bundle to his chest. The crying stopped instantly; watery brown eyes drawn to the faint blue glow emanating from his chest.
"Hey, baby girl," the Billionaire spoke softly, before continuing his conversation with Jarvis.
"Well - snort - there's your problem - snort - Mr. Stark," Tony said, supporting Maria on his hip as he walked back downstairs, retrieving the fallen Teddy bear as he passed, while using his other hand to push imaginary glasses up his nose "Your AI System - snort - seems to be - snort - defective."
Maria, completely forgetting her earlier angst, playfully giggled at her father's antics; using pudgy hands to sporadically tap at his glowing chest piece in a rhythm only she could hear.
"Let's demand a refund!" Tony scrunched up his nose in mock disgust, to which Maria grabbed at, before resuming her drum solo with just as much enthusiasm as before.
Bouncing Maria lightly in his arms, Tony moved to stand in front of the screen in the workshop sitting area.
"Jarvis, bring up the cameras from the nursery, hallway, stairs and living room, please. Just before she escapes from Alcatraz."
Black and white images filled the screen as rewound real-time footage showed Maria's struggled, though skillful escape.
"Well, I'll be damned," Tony murmured under his breath.
Re-watching the footage again, Tony was amazed at the ingenuity of his 11 month old. She was brilliant! Okay, not the most graceful, but with time, she was going to be unstoppable.
Though, this was going to be a problem.
Logic overruling his pride, he surveyed the scene again with a worried father's eye, and an Engineer's mind. Along with programming Jarvis with 'specific parameters of problematic behavior', perhaps reconstruction of an escape-proof crib was in order. Let's see, a couple of tweaks here, maybe an adjustment there, perhaps some electronic device right there….
Turning to Maria, he bumped his nose softly with hers. "You cheeky little monkey."
Maria seemed to understand her father's praise and smiled widely at him, clapping her hands as if to applaud herself.
"Yes," the CEO stated in a childish way, before reverting to Yoda "Chip off the old block, you are."
Maria giggled and squirmed in her father's arms, just then realizing her long forgotten friend in his hand. Reaching, she grasped on to it as Tony settled it between her body and his chest; the Air Force uniformed brown bear held dearly in her arms.
'You white people and your white toys,' Tony remembered Rhodey grumbling as he had placed the bear near Maria's sleeping form just hours after birth at the hospital. 'Practically had to call in Special Ops to find this thing,' he had said before looking all googily-eyed at his honorary Goddaughter.
Maria gave the impression that she remembered that moment as she rocked the bear back and forth in her arms, biting onto the ear and mashing it between her gums.
"You hungry?" Tony conversationally asked, knowing full well he wouldn't exactly get an answer. His daughter just stared at him with wide brown eyes, cocking her head to the left, then the right, then back again.
Abandoning the security footage, Stark senior turned to his kitchenette and produced a silicone spoon, and a small jar of apple sauce. "We're gonna make a mess, aren't we?" Tony snickered, as he briefly set Maria on the counter to bib her, and threw a towel over his shoulder. Returning to the sitting area, he took a seat at the couch and adjusted her on his lap, making sure Blue the Bear (as Rhodey had called him) was still within grasp.
"Alright, monkey, open up."
Diligently, Maria did as asked, delightfully accepting the proffered snack. Between the two of them, (Tony realizing he hadn't eaten recently), the jar was finished in no time, with the pre-predicted mess contained on the Winnie the Pooh bib.
"All gone," Tony concluded, making a show of turning the jar upside down, then placing it right way up on the coffee table, along with its spoon and bib.
Resting after her snack, Maria leaned herself against her father's chest and turned to watch the replayed footage of herself on the TV screen. Knowing this would quickly get boring, Tony decided a movie was in order.
"Jarvis, put something on the screen down here."
"Any specific film, Sir?"
"Uh, I donno. Whatcha got?" The Stark elder absentmindedly asked, running his fingers through his daughter's red-brown, more of copper coloured, hair.
"Would you like a list in chronological, or alpha- "
"You know what, never mind," Tony amended, suddenly realizing the vagueness of his question. "Just put on something Disney, or whatever."
"Sir, there are precisely 58 Disney animated films appropriate for Miss. Stark's age group."
Tony looked up at the ceiling in disdain "Fine," he conceded, "Uh, that fish one, then."
"Fish, Sir?"
"Yeah, you know," Tony said, suddenly rethinking upgrading Jarvis' memory banks. "The orange one… Elmo, Gino, Gizmo-"
"Finding Nemo, Sir?"
"That's it!" Tony exclaimed, pointing a finger up at the ceiling. Maria choosing to follow suit, did the same and latched her small hand around his index finger, pulling it to her mouth to suck on the digit.
"Very well, Sir."
The movie began playing and Maria's attention with quickly diverted to the screen. Before he knew it, they were halfway through the thing, and he was laughing along with a giant Bob Marley channeling sea turtle.
"Whoa, Dude. Mister Turtle is my father. The name's Crush."
"Sir," Jarvis' gentle brogue cut through the film, "Mrs. Stark has returned from her meeting."
Tony smiled at the ceiling. Mrs. Stark certainly did have a ring to it. "Thank you," he said, casting his eyes down to the now sleeping toddler in his arms. "Tell her we're down here."
"As you wish, Sir."
In an insanely quick amount of time, and at an even faster clip, Pepper was punching in her access code, and slipping into the room, having discarded her heels and suit jacket somewhere on her way down.
"Hey," she smiled at the sight of her daughter snuggled up soundlessly in her husband's arms. Leaning her body over the back of the couch, while Tony leaded his head back, they met in a soft kiss before they parted, and she came around to sit on the coffee table in front of him.
"Hey, how'd it go?"
Pepper blew her bangs out of her eyes and sighed "You do know that R&D meetings go better if there is, indeed, a CEO Engineer present, right?"
Tony's eyebrows shot up in surprise "It was R&D?" He could have pulled off the shock if only he had of suppressed the smirk. That, and the fact that she reminded him last night about the meeting. She was used to him missing meetings, and that became more frequent since Maria was born. It didn't surprise her that he'd taken to giving the babysitter (a widowed woman who worked maybe 4 hours a day, tops (hands on parents as they were)) a large amount of time off whenever he decided to spend his day at home.
"Well, anyway, when you go in tomorrow," she emphasized the last bit, "you can okay the final design, and have your name on yet another fine piece of craftsmanship."
"Your name, too," Tony said coyly.
"Mmhmm…" The PA-slash-wife-slash-mother-slash-slash-slash affirmed before reaching over to lightly sweep Maria's hair off her forehead, "how was she?"
Tony smirked arrogantly and cocked his head to the screen, "See for yourself. Jarvis…"
"Yes, Sir."
Just as earlier, the same piece of security footage popped up on the screen, replacing Finding Nemo, and the same little tyke made her way around her world. The tyke's mother stammered and gasped and bit her nails frantically as she watched her daughter give the crib, the room, then the stairs the slip.
"Oh my God," she hissed, as not to wake Maria, and turned to a smug looking father. Of course, it figures. Being named after a brilliant woman, and the daughter of an even more brilliant man, Maria was bound to pick up more than just name and brown eyes.
"You and your damn genes," she muttered, just like Tony, impressed, yet fearful for her daughter's new found skill.
Shaking her head, she regarded the pair sitting on the couch.
"You and your damn, magnificent genes."
Author's Note: What; an Iron Man fic without some sort of engineering jargon?! Say what! Yeah, my tech speak aint so techy, therefore no Stark-anese. PS. I have a soft, mushy, spongy spot for my ships with kids…PSS. Again, my first IM fic. Please be nice.