Eleanor loved her older brother. Well, sometimes, she hated him too but ultimately, she loved him. He was a menace and had a terrible knack of getting himself - and most times her - into serious trouble. He loved to provoke her and never understood that she had her own work she needed to accomplish before she could help with his own. With him being a good ten years older than her twenty-eight, he had an uncanny ability to absolutely infuriate her.
"Ellie!" her brother's voice yelled out, causing Eleanor to shove the phone away from her ear with a grimace. "I need your opinion on a design. And Happy is already waiting, so don't be rude and keep him waiting any longer."
"You do know I'm not an engineering genius like you, right? How many times have I told you this?" Eleanor bit out, rolling her eyes, but nonetheless began packing her things away. She could never win with him. "I also have a job, something that you seem to neglect, Tony."
Eleanor could imagine the scowl on Tony's face as he scoffed at her. "It seems we have the same conversation every time we talk. I'll expect you in say, ten minutes? Happy drives fast."
Before Eleanor could argue with more, he hung up, causing her to groan in frustration and stick her phone in her bag. Once her things were all together, Eleanor went down the hall and knocked on the door to one of her most trusted employees.
"Carol?" she called out, apologetically. "I hate to do this but -"
The older woman, Carol, waved her hand at the younger Stark. "It's no problem, Doctor. I'm sure whatever Mr. Stark needs is important. If there's any severe cases, I'll make sure to call you ASAP."
"You're a lifesaver."
While Tony owned the family company and earned his degree from MIT, Eleanor had her own success - a genius in her own right. Graduating from Harvard Medical at twenty-three, she opened her own practice in New York near Stark Tower, adding to the already illustrious Stark name.
As soon as Eleanor stepped outside, she recognized the sleek black vehicle and the usual man driving it.
"Good afternoon, Miss Stark," Happy greeted, opening the door for her, and she sent him a smile of her own. "Nice to see you, Happy. I can't imagine what he wants this time."
The bodyguard just shook his head with a half smirk on his face. "I'm of no help, ma'am."
The ride wasn't very long, and Eleanor couldn't understand why Tony always wanted to pick her up when she was within walking distance or, an even more puzzling thing, she had her own vehicle. She guessed it was for him to get his way.
After thanking Happy for the ride, Eleanor grabbed her bag and smoothed her skirt down, grumbling as she walked to the front, pushing her way in easily, and not even bothering with the receptionist or the other security.
"Hello, Miss Stark," a disembodied voice greeted. "Sir is in the lab and advised that you change into something more comfortable."
Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Of course. I shouldn't have expected anything less. Are my things still in the same place?"
The AI responded, "Yes, Miss Stark. Miss Potts assured me that everything was still orderly and prepared for your arrival."
Eleanor hummed and reached the room that Tony had reserved for her anytime she visited the Tower - which was very often, especially after the Afghanistan and Iron Man fiasco. The siblings have always been close, specifically after their parents' death, but once Tony became a superhero and attracted enemies, his paranoia and protectiveness really escalated. Eleanor knew her older brother than anyone, so despite how annoying his pestering is, she always showed up for his reassurance.
After changing into jeans and loose shirt with a simple pair of sneakers, Eleanor threw her hair up and trudged down to Tony's lab seeing the genius tinkering with one of his many suits. Upon hearing her footsteps, he looked up with a grin on his face. "Glad to see you could make it, Ellie. I thought you had gotten lost or something."
Eleanor sighed and ran a hand down her face. "You do realize that joke isn't any funnier than it was the first twenty times, right? So what is it you need? You don't look hurt, but we can change that."
"Please don't threaten me in my own lab."
"I'll do it again if you don't get to talking, Tony."
Tony ignored the exasperation in her tone. "I'm trying to find a way to program the suit to have the ability to provide some type of medical assistance when I'm out there," he finally admitted. "Because, let me tell you, getting battered around does not feel nice. Also, you're the medicine one. I don't want to inject myself with poison."
Eleanor cocked her head and hummed in thought. She had actually thought of this on occasion. His suit was powerful and it wasn't likely that Tony would sustain any fatal injuries within it, but she was always concerned about the cuts and trauma his body endured. The suit was incredible in its own right with the advanced technology and the fact that Tony Stark created it, but he was susceptible to injuries that had to be treated once he got out of it. Of course, Eleanor also knew there was no plausible way for the suit to repair broken bones or tendons, but basic first aid would benefit him a lot in the long run.
"Obviously you would need to equip it with the basic needs - you know, sutures, antiseptics, gauze, the essentials," she explained, grabbing a tablet to prepare a base design. "After that, it might be more difficult to get the assistance because of how cramped the suit it, but with you, it's doable."
She clicked a few more buttons and a diagram appeared between the two of them.
"This is a very basic idea to go off of, but I think you could work with it."
Tony grabbed the tablet from her and darted his eyes over her very sloppy blueprints, mouthing things to himself as he looked it over. Eleanor waited patiently. It wasn't the first time she had helped with a slight advancement - slight being the key word - and she still could never imagine what was going through his head, but if there was one thing that Howard Stark did for the two of them, it was that he gifted them with adaptable intelligence.
After a few more minutes of Tony's studying, Eleanor grew impatient. "Are you going to say anything or am I going to stare at you some more?"
He rolled his eyes at her and stood up, brushing past her. "I'm hungry and I know you haven't ate yet."
Before she could respond, Tony left the lab, leaving her gaping after him. Despite growing up with him, Tony never ceased to surprise and amaze her. JARVIS snapped her out of her thoughts. "Miss Stark, are you alright? You have not moved in a long period of time."
"Yeah," she droned, trudging upstairs. "He's just a piece of work."
"I agree, Miss Stark."
"Quit conspiring against me," Tony shouted, his head in the refrigerator as he looked for something to eat. "I'm the only thing keeping this family together."
A headache was forming from overexposure from her brother, she was sure of it. It happened every time she came over. Eleanor sat down at the counter and rubbed her temples. "Why are you like this? Aren't you too old to act like a child? Please don't forget cheese on my sandwich."
He obliged and placed her sandwich in front of her, taking a bite of his own and staring at her thoughtfully. Eleanor stared back suspiciously.
"Has anything weird happened at your place?"
Eleanor furrowed her eyebrows, placing her sandwich down. "No. Well, there's always the 'incurable' disease that rolls in, but nothing other than that. Why? Have you made another enemy? I can lie low, no problem."
Tony shook his head quickly. "No, no, nothing like that. Just wondering if you've been contacted by anyone strange."
Now, Eleanor shook her head, confused. "Not that I remember. If you give it a few weeks, I'm sure another Iron Man hater will, though."
Tony flinched at the bland tone. Eleanor had dealt with his messes multiple times. It wasn't a surprise, really. She was easily the first choice of leverage as his precious sister, but it was never any less frightening - or irritating.
"Are you really that worried?" she asked him after she saw the contemplative look. "Have you been contacted by someone strange?"
"Just the usuals," he replied distractedly, and Eleanor knew that was the only thing she was going to get from him. Tony suddenly clapped his hands resolutely and smirked at her. "Well, this conversation is unproductive. I'm going to go down and start working on that adjustment - which by the way was horrible to begin with, but it's not like I'm used to it or anything - so you can come down and help or leave or whatever your little heart desires."
He swiftly stood with his sandwich and placed a fleeting kiss on her head as he walked past her to go to the lab. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration because Tony was right, that conversation was unproductive and very strange.
Tony called her often. When he was in New York, it always involved her coming over and leaving work early. When he wasn't in New York, it was to bother her and maybe have a loving sibling conversation. And despite the annoyance or irritation he caused her, she would do whatever he needed because it helped him feel better. Between Eleanor and Pepper, Tony had come close to losing one or both of them too many times, and Eleanor was sure he needed the comfort to know she was alive and well.
However, it wasn't often that he asked about her encounters because he usually knew about them even before she did. His enemies would always boast about any contact they've made, and Tony wouldn't bother with a familial invite to discuss it. For him to bring it up during a normal visit, it worried her a bit.
She was right to worry. Honestly, she should've realized how foreboding the conversation she had with Tony was. It was a matter of time, really, before she was dragged into his superhero business again.
"Hey, Tony, you remember that weird question you asked me today? You know, the one about strange people approaching me? Yeah, well that happened, and I'm supposed to be helping some super secret organization you know about. So, call me back when you get this because I'm very confused."