The stereo blasted from the basement of the hillside California pent house. Old school rock n' roll filled Tony Stark's ears as he worked on the motor of the flame sided 1930's hot rod.
He wore magnifying glasses to see as close to the paint as possible. He seemed to be in a working trance until Jarvis's voice rang through the room...cutting off the music.
"Sir," Jarvis continued in his computer-esk tone. "Miss Potts is approaching, she seems to be quite agitated."
"Agitated?" Tony stood and hustled over to his desk and threw the glasses in a drawer.
He heard the clicking of Pepper's heels on the marble steps of the staircase that lead to the downstairs workshop, he quickly picked up a manilla folder and started flipping through the pages.
Pepper slid her finger against the keypad and typed in her password. She nearly pushed the sliding glass door open herself.
"Tony," She sounded a little out of breath, but urgent.
"You know you seem a bit...rattled," He said. "And you know, if your upset then I might get upset and that doesn't make for a good work environment..."
They were playing some type of ring around the rosie. Whenever Pepper tried to get close enough to talk, Tony would just jump to another place in the room.
"So...why don't you just come back when you're a little more collected and we'll ju..."
"Tony!," She said it so forcefully he was actually a little taken back. "This is important!."
"You know...im not sure I like this little uppity attitude so much." He put down the folder but didn't move.
Pepper walked over and handed him another file, "This is Charlene King."
He opened the folder and looked that the black and white photo of a young girl. "She's cute, but I think she might be a little young for me."
She gave him a crooked unamused smile and he snicked to himself. "Keep reading," She said pointing back to the file.
His eyes moved down the paper, "She paralyzed." He looked back up at Pepper. "Pepper, Stark Industries isn't a medical ward," He read more.
"Her condition's hereditary?" He asked looking back up from the file.
"Family history is on the next page." Pepper said flipping it for him.
"Okay...okay...father Francis King...discesed... mother...unknown?" He gave her a puzzled look.
"She never signed the birth certificate, apparently she disappeared after being released from the hospital." Pepper almost just wanted to tell him...he was so slow at doing things he didn't want to do.
"...Alright...," He continued. "Grandfather...Martin King...grandmother...Maria Cerre..."
He looked at Pepper, confusion all over his face. He quickly shut the file and handed it back to her.
"So what was that all about exactly," He stated running around the workshop again. "Like I said before, im not a doctor...and her condition is most likely perminate."
"That's not why I had you look at her file," She kept an even pace with him, no matter where he moved. "You saw her family history."
"You know I don't know about you, but where I came from only child meant no brothers or sisters." He opened the door and jogged up the stairs, Pepper close behind him.
"Tony you cant ignore this," She tried to grab him by the shoulder but missed.
"Oh yeah," He said turning around, then picking up speed in the other direction. "Hey Jarvis, help me ignore this."
Jarvis's voice rang through the house, "Sir I've run an advanced blood test, it seems you and Miss King share 6 alleles in common. And she shares 11 in common with you own mother, Sir. This is all the biological proof any doctor will need."
He stopped walking finally, "Thank-you Jarvis." He finished in a sarcastic tone.
"Your Welcome Sir," Jarvis Finished.
Pepper walked over to him, he looked up into her eyes. "Tony, she's your niece, she's could be the future CEO of Stark Industries."
