Hey everyone, I finished chapter eight and am currently working on chapter nine. This chapter was a bit more difficult to write as I kept looking up alloys and metal properties for Tony's suit...yeah...I am no engineer or science major, so be kind when reviewing my Iron Man making expertise :).
Chapter Eight
April
It was good to be back in Malibu, I was atually surprised at how relieved I was to be away from England. I didn't realize till now that the sun shined a lot more in the states. Or that the environment didn't depress me quite as much as the grey skyline of London did. The only problem was the fact that I was missing a ton of school and I wasn't sure how much longer my professor would accept my excuses. Tony said that he was going to take care of it, but I was worried that it wouldn't be enough. My father didn't exactly realize that not everyone in the world liked him as much as the women in Malibu did.
"Jarvis," I said from the living room table. "I need you to contact my professor's at Oxford...tell them that I will be transferring colleges and I would appreciate it if they would write me a couple reccomendations."
"Of course Miss Stark," the polite, electronic, butler chimed. "Do you have the Universities you would like the reccomendations sent to? Perhaps you should ask your father to write one-
-no...I do not want to be accepted to an ivy league school based on my father's merit. I want this to be done through my own accomplishments."
"I assume you would like to attend an Ivy League school, Miss Stark?"
"I will accept nothing less, Jarvis."
"There aren't many in Malibu."
I sighed softly and sat down on the edge of the sofa. I really didn't want to end up having to fly or drive myself back to Tony's house each night. I decided that although I was more than capable of succeeding in an Ivy League school, I would have to settle for something a bit lower. I don't know what was possessing me to sacrifice my education for Tony...but something told me that I just wouldn't feel at home on another campus ever again.
"Perhaps your father could-
-Jarvis...what did I say? I want to do this on my own."
"I was just going to say that he could hire you a personal professor from one of the universities, Miss Stark."
I sighed, I supposed that wasn't relying too heavily on my father. It was really my intellect that would have to keep the Professor around. I guess I could allow him to help, if he was willing to that was. At the moment he seemed very distracted with his Iron Man escapades. I suppose I shouldn't be terribly surprised, he WAS looked at as a super hero after all.
"Alright Jarvis," I said. "I'll talk to my dad. Where is he by the way?"
"Him and Miss Potts are getting ready for the Stark Expo in New York, Miss Stark."
I felt my eyes darken a bit and I looked up in anger. My father was such an asshole! He had told Pepper and myself that we were staying in the house for at least a week! And now we haven't even been back for two days and my father was all ready to hold a fucking expo! And as if to add to the audacity, he hadn't even told me or informed me about it. No...this was NOT happening. If they were having a fucking expo party, then I was going to crash it.
"Jarvis..." I said. "My father has a spare Iron Man suit downstairs doesn't he?"
"That information is confidential, Miss Stark."
"Jarvis..." I growled. "I will rewire you to the point you are nothing but a fucking calculater...answer the question now."
"Yes Miss Stark," he said. "Your father's first prototype of the suit is downstairs in the lab."
I smirked and pulled out my laptop. Well...If I was to be my father's successor, it would appear that I would have to become involved in the family's business. That included the superhero business. With my father's original designs, I could modify certain aspects of the suit so that it would hold the feminine physique. I could improve the weapons systems and make it lighter for faster flight patterns...I could show that narcissistic bastard up at his own expo...oh yes...this would be a wonderful science project.
"Miss Stark..." Jarvis said, his electronic voice sounding slightly hushed. "Might I make a suggestion?"
"I suppose, Jarvis."
"Miss Potts and Mr. Stark have a dinner in Paris planned tonight-
-Jarvis, I love you."
Smiling I grabbed my cell phone, lap top, and sketch book. I would get the suit modified tonight and test the flight pattern before Pepper and my father got back. I knew that they would spend the night there. My father could not resist showing off his private jet and iron apendages. So while they were in Paris I could work through the night on the suit and hopefully have most of it done before they returned. I could hack Tony's computers to get all of the original schematics and, hopefully, he had recorded all of his tests with the first suit.
"Jarvis, get ready for an all nighter."
"Of course Miss Stark."
My father seemed a bit hesitant to leave for his date, despite the fact that he had not planned to inform me of it regardless. He kept touching my face and checking my temperature, like I was some kind of medical time bomb about to go off. It was a little heart warming at first, but now it was mostly annoying.
"Tony!" I whined. "God, I'm fine...please go?"
"Why are you trying to get rid of me?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow. "Do you have a wild party planned?"
"Is it so wrong for me to want some private time?" I sighed. "You've been stuck to my ass since we got back from London."
"Oh, so you are just sick of me?"
"Exactly." I smirked.
"Thank God," he said, kissing my forehead. "I thought you were going to hold a wild orgy while we were gone. We'll be back tomorrow morning, don't wait up."
"Didn't plan to."
Tony smirked and with a final pinch of my cheeks he left to meet Pepper in the garage. Releasing a sigh of relief, I decided to get started with the suit as soon as possible. I was still debating mentally what color I should paint it. Hot rod red and gold seemed nice...but I was more of a silver person. So maybe I would keep the red and just change the trim. I was so excited! I felt like I was finally sharing something with my dad...despite the fact that he wasn't around to share in the moment...and he would probably be really pissed when he found out at the expo...okay, so maybe this moment was more or less just for me.
I got to the keypad that unlocked my father's lab door and typed it in before entering. It was like a technological candy land. I didn't know where to start, and then I remembered that I had a goal here and I needed to focus.
"Jarvis?" I called. "You awake?"
"Always, Miss Stark."
"Good...we need some work music."
I smiled as Shoot to Thrill sounded over the intercom and with a shake of my hips I began pulling up files on Tony's computer. Boy, this was going to be easier than I thought it was. All of his Iron Man files were, obviously, encrypted. Pulling the screen up away from the desk, I plugged my new phone into the desktop and began sending my codes through the system so I could gain access. Dad had been right, the firewall would just continue reconfiguring each time you passed through it...so all that left me was the option of going through each key to hopefully hit one of his codes.
"Jarvis, bring out the prototype suit."
I turned as I heard the hiss of a metallic door and frowned when the silver suit was brought out. This was going to be a lot of work. The prototype seemed scratched and banged up from my dad's first test run. I didn't have the raw materials on hand, so I was just going to have to try my best to make this look as new as possible. If I could afford to I would deplete my own funds to make a new one...oh well... one must do with what one has, I suppose.
"Miss Stark, I may need to inform you that for your father's first flight in the Mark I the suit did not resist the frigid temperatures of space."
"No, I had a feeling it wouldn't," I said. "Jarvis...Platinum Sterling would be a wonderful substitiute don't you think? Light weight, doesn't tarnish easily..."
"It is far too thin, Miss Stark...for what you make up in mobility you lose in practicallity. A bullet would pierce through it far too easily."
I sighed and moved around the lab, my eyes looking up and down at the suit. I wasn't building this to withstand battle...a couple canons and with the more lucid movements I could avoid bullets and attacks easier. My father looked like a bumbling idiot when he fought because the suit weighed him down so much...with a lighter more maleable metal, agility would become a new advantage that he didn't have the ability to tap into.
"We must make sacrifices Jarvis...we will use Platinum Sterling for the armor."
"Shall I have it shipped here overnight..."
"I need it here in no less than an hour."
"Very well Miss Stark."
I didn't know how long I had been working...and my hands were lagging as I began putting the finishing touches on the suit. I needed to test it's durability during flight and the hand canon's...not to mention the various sensors I was using for aiming and combat. I felt like I was so close and yet so far away.
"Miss Stark, you should head to bed before your father returns."
"I need to run a basic flight simulation, Jarvis."
"You are not capable to fly the suit being as exhausted as you are."
I took a final look at the suit and sighed with longing. It shimmered beautifully in the dim light, and the red paint almost made my heart beat twice as fast. It was considerably smaller than my father's, mostly because I was, and it was definitely more form fitting. All of these attributes would make me faster and far more airodynamic. God, I wanted to fly it so bad...I wonder if dad had felt the same way after he completed his second suit.
"Shall I put the suit away, Miss Stark?"
Even though I wanted to argue with him, I knew that he was right. I would most likely fall asleep while flying and slam into a wall or one of Tony's cars. It was best to just put the suit away for the night and revisit it when him and Pepper were out again. Smiling, I gently ran my hand over the suit once more before Jarvis hid it away...if it didn't make my father proud, it would do one Hell of a job when it came to pissing him off.
"Goodnight Jarvis."
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