PROLOGUE
"Look kid, this is a dangerous job," his brown gaze lowered till it fixed itself on her careful blasé expression, her youthful face void of emotion.
Good god, she was just a child. How had SHIELD ever thought that he, Tony Anti-social Stark could play well with children? Especially when they were bionic spy children and one of the best young agents from SHIELD?
"I'm sixteen," was her automatic response. "And you do it all the time."
Tony sighed wearily. It wasn't going to be easy to convince her she shouldn't go. She, like all other spies he knew, was extremely stubborn. It'd have been easy just to go along with her. But if anything happened to her, he would be in a shit load of trouble.
It was, in fact, going to get a lot worst when Captain Overprotective found out about it. And as much as he loved getting him all riled up— it was his avocation— he wouldn't do it, not this time, not at the expense of something real.
How did he ever end up in this position?
"You're not me," he said. And thank god for that. Two Tony Starks might send the whole world crumbling to bits.
She snorted. "No, I'm just Tony Stark and Captain America's protégé who happens to be known as 'The Prodigy'. Face it Tony, I'm good." Okay so maybe she was a little like him.
Why, did SHIELD think he was capable enough to take her in?
"Fine, on one condition." Her eyes brightened, her lips curled into a smile. "You play by my rules. You do exactly what I tell you to. No more, no less. Even if it means letting hundreds of people die—"
"Hundreds?"
He shook his head. "We're not going to save the world, Ceara. We're not freaking heroes."