Note: I have no real reason to why this update was as late as it was, other than out of pure laziness and a lost sense of time. Needless to say, I'm deeply sorry and I cannot promise you guys, that it won't happen again. Honestly with everything that has, been happening in my life again, a lack of updates may become common.

Don't worry though, I will sink it into my head that this story needs a update. When I can. Here's the chapter and the Iron Man story line is starting. Enjoy!

Chapter summery: In high sight, Obadiah Stane should have got someone to kill Hazel instead. There was a higher chance of Tony dying from a broken heart, than by a bomb with his own name on it. Also Obadiah would like to know, who the bloodily hell gave Tony Stark equipment?! Did they really think the man, would do as he was told? They had one job! One job, how hard could it be to kill a man and thus a idea was born.

EllaoftheOpera: ( Thank you for everything!)

Tony Stark liked to think of himself as a man that never lost his cool. Well, unless his daughter was involved and he had to go to an award ceremony. Hadn't he ever told anyone, that he didn't like award ceremonies? No? Okay then.

"But I don't like award ceremonies," Tony whined in a childish way.

"It's not what you like, Tones. It's what you need," Rhodey pointed out.

Happy just stood there and watched the exchange.

"Uncle R," Hazel butted in, "that makes no sense in this situation."

For as long as Hazel could remember Rhodey always patted the top of her head. She didn't blame the guy. He wasn't around children for the most part and had no idea what to do when he had to babysit her when she was younger. She just stood there with a deadpan expression as Rhodey patted the top of her head.

"Not now, Hazel," he said politely. "Now help me with your man baby of a father and bring him to the car."

"Man baby?" Tony asked. "I'm not even the young adult of the group."

"True. But from here on out, I'm your babysitter, Tony. It's my duty to ensure a full grown adult and a father by the way, actually visits his own ceremonies."

"But I don't even know what the award is for this time," Tony said honestly.

"What is the award for, anyway?" Hazel lowered her voice, asking Happy the question. She figured he was the only sane adult in this room.

He shrugged his shoulders. "No idea, boss."

The pair watched Tony go limp and drop to the ground, causing Rhodey to catch him midway. Tony folded his arms like a toddler that didn't want to go shopping as Rhodey dragged his best friend out of the room.

Hazel followed the two men with a skip in her step and hummed a happy tune. Happy picked up the bags on the ground and followed suit. In the background stood a face-palming Obadiah and a casual Peter.

"Is it sad that this is normal?" Peter asked, remembering this scene happening every time an award ceremony was mentioned.

"I try not to think about it," Obadiah replied and followed after the small group.

All in all, it's a pretty normal start of the week for the Starks and everyone around them.

There is a set routine to follow, once one has finally dragged and driven Tony Stark to where he needs to go (in this case, Vegas). They sat in the dining hall and watched the same powerpoint that explained their life journey and tried not to allow Tony to fall asleep in the process.

It was then a race to the car while passing along said award to the first bystander that Tony saw and not allowing May to hear about it. It was, after all, May Parker's first order of business to find any award Tony has and place them all in one room while at the same time saying how proud she was of him to win it in the first place.

Besides, the next day was more important. A pitch meeting in Afghanistan was due and Hazel had a bad feeling. She'd had nightmares about it before. She knew it was her mind playing the same memory over and over again about a kidnapped Tony, or in this case, her father.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked, glancing at her with worried eyes.

They were at the airport, waiting for Tony to get out of his car.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"I'm telling you, Rhodey," her father was heard as he walked alongside James Rhodes toward the plane. "What's the point of having your own plane if it leaves without you?"

"It's the nightmare again, isn't it?"

Hazel nodded, hugging herself. Peter sensed her distress and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sure he's going to be fine."

Hazel bit the end of her lips. She has a strong feeling that everything is about to start. Maybe she would have been called crazy in her old world for thinking this, but Hazel Stark did not want Iron Man to be born. She didn't want her dad hurt.

Tony Stark didn't come home. Instead, there was a bomb with his name on it, literally. He found himself waking up to pain, and the next time he woke up there was a strange man shaving not far from him. Tony knew his condition.

He knew that Hazel would not be the only other person on earth with an arc reactor. He knew when he got home he was going to make a replacement and another new element. There was just one problem: Tony didn't think he had it in him to get out.

What was he supposed to do? They wanted him to make them a weapon and Tony knew that they would shoot him afterward, once the weapon was made, or force him to live and make more weapons. Now that he's seen what side his weapons were on, he couldn't make them. His daughter was out there and maybe one day she would get shot again and he wouldn't be there to save her.

Worse, she could be shot by one of his own weapons that he makes in this cave if these people didn't kill him. Tony sighed. He only had one thing on him: his wallet, worn and dirty. There was no money inside; it was either lost or taken, But there was a photo.

It was Hazel, smiling brightly as her arms wrapped around him in one big hug. It was a little worn out, a little dirty, with a couple of torn pieces here and there. But the shape the photo was in was the last thing on Tony's mind. Instead, it was enough to keep him going.

He was going home. It was here that Tony Stark had a brilliant idea. From metal suits to flamethrowers, it was enough to go out with a bang.

"Uncle R, wait up! Wait up!"

Rhodey stopped in his tracks and turned to glance over his shoulders to see his goddaughter running up to him, waving her hand in the air.

"What is it, kid?" he asked.

It was only as she stood right in front of him, with her hands on her hips and a smile on her lips, that he realized. She looked ready for war, wearing a dark green combat uniform. He shook his head.

He knew that look. He knew that Hazel was up to something and he refused to allow her to go to Afghanistan. His best friend may very well be dead and he wasn't going to lose his best friend's child as well.

"Absolutely not," he ordered. Hazel smile faded and turned into a frown. her arms folded over her chest.

"But Uncle R, you said you're going to find my dad. I'm coming with you."

"You have a company to run. The board will go crazy if they lose two Starks in one week."

"Stuff them," she said a little too proudly. "I can't do anything anyway. Stane in charge until I turn 21. I'm only 20, remember?"

Hazel tried not to wince at the mention of Stane. There wasn't much she could do. Her father wouldn't be pleased if she was the cause of Obadiah's lost job. He might have somewhat of an idea, that somebody had tried to order a hit on him, but until she had proof that Obadiah was the cause, the man was still safe.

"And if you say no again, then hear me out. Wouldn't you rather me go with you, my own godfather? This way you know I'm safe. Or would you rather me go with my own search party in a land that I know nothing about?"

James Rhodes found himself staring into Hazel's honey brown eyes. Hazel glared right into his own eyes. Tony was going to hunt him down across the country for this, but Hazel was right. He sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

Hazel clapped happily and ran ahead of him. Tony Stark was so going to kill him afterward.

It must have been adrenaline that had kept Tony going. All hell broke loose the moment he escaped those caves back there. Yinsen's death was something that would forever haunt his dreams. Tony knew this.

However, Tony didn't have time to wonder about the past now, not when he was a free man. Lack of water would no doubt get to him before anything else could. As Tony found himself walking the sea of sand, the sound of something traveling up ahead gave him a little hope. He knew it could be anyone, friend or foe, but the moment he realized it had come from America of all places he couldn't help but drop down to his knees and laugh out his relief. He waved his hand in the air, hoping they would notice him.

It was Rhodey. The man took him into a massive bear hug.

"Next time, you're sitting with me," Rhodey said with relief noted in his voice.

"Dad!"

Tony found himself almost tackled to the ground, as someone flung herself around him. He knew who she was and a part of him wasn't happy to see her here. Not here. But then there was the other part of him that wouldn't want anyone else to be here but his daughter.

"Hey, kiddo. Sorry I'm late," he can't help but comment.

Hazel cried in relief.

There weren't many women in Tony's life that could get away with telling him what to do. Even Pepper asking him to go to the hospital before buying a cheeseburger had failed. Hazel knew her father well enough to know that he wouldn't go to one even if he was dying on his deathbed and could still walk on his own two feet.

May Parker, however, was a woman that Tony often found himself listening to. May had a way with words and looked far too innocent for anyone's liking. She had a very sweet tone that really promised pain if a person didn't listen to her. And if all that failed, drag them by the ear, even if they're kicking and screaming.

Tony Stark didn't need a hospital. He didn't want to go to one. He wanted a press conference and a cheeseburger first. Was this too much to ask? Apparently, to May Parker it was, and Tony found himself wincing in pain as the woman dragged him by the ear, pushed him forward into the car, and told Happy to drive to the nearest hospital. She then asked Pepper to make a call to Tony's doctor.

One doctor's check-up later, Tony finally got what he wanted: a press conference, a cheeseburger, and May's homemade apple pie.

"Let's sit down," Tony said as he happily munched on the homemade pie.

"Why does Tony get the first slice of the pie?" Ben whispered sadly to May as they watched from the other end of the room.

"Shh," May hushed Ben, ignoring his question and about to speak up like a proud mother. "Tony is about to speak."

"There are a lot of things in this world that I don't want my daughter experiencing."

In the back of the room, Hazel was being hugged by Peter, his head gently placed on top of her own. She looked up with interest.

"It's also a shame that my father never got to meet his granddaughter. Then again, I never got to say goodbye to my dad. There are a lot of things that I still want to speak to him about. A lot of questions that will never be answered.

"I would like to ask him about the company. Was he confident, did he have any doubts." He took a bite out of the pie. "Then again, he might've have been everything the press said about him."

In the background, Ben flinched slightly at the statement. May huffed in a disapproving manner. She was never a fan of Howard, but she didn't appreciate Tony's insults.

"You know, I saw young Americans out there being killed by the very weapons that I built and that my daughter was going to build to protect them."

Hazel winced at the words. She wasn't really going to build them, even if she became CEO. If her father wasn't going to change the ways of SI, she was going to, even if her father didn't go through the cave and she had to fight him for it. Good thing she was never going to tell him this.

"I had my eyes opened when I was there. And that's why I'm shutting down the company immediately."

May and Hazel both noticed Obadiah about to race forward to save his job. Hazel gave a Peter a kiss on the cheek before she walked over with May following suit.

"Mr. Stane. Where are you going on this fine day?" May asked Obadiah sweetly as she stood in front of the man, allowing Hazel to walk up to the stand.

"Not now, Mrs. Parker."

May allowed Obadiah to step through, but it was too late; Hazel was already behind the stand.

"The future of Stark Industries will be postponed until another day. For now, this press conference is over. No more comments will be given."

Obadiah's eyes narrowed at the sight. He glanced over at the woman that had slowed him down. May smiled and waved at him. Ben and Peter walked up to her casually. Sometimes Obadiah really did hate that family.

"What was that for?" Tony asked his daughter, lowering his voice. Hazel was forced to bend down to hear him.

"I just saved your butt, unless you have a future plan to keep SI open."

Tony blinked. "I'm working on it."

"So it's a work in progress. Finished with the pie, Dad?" she asked, noticing there was half a pie on her father's plate.

Her father looked down at said pie and then glanced back up his daughter before shielding it with his hand and moving the plate to the side a little. Hazel rolled her eyes.

As they were about to leave, Flash came running towards them with a panicked look in his eyes.

"Are we shutting down?" he asked Hazel. "I can't lose another job."

Hazel turned to Flash with her honey brown eyes. If this was high school Flash she wouldn't have cared, but as of late he and Peter were becoming close friends. If Peter was fine with it, then she was as well. If Flash hurt him again, she would be more than happy to beat him to a bloody pulp.

"I can't promise anything. But don't worry Flash, you're a friend of the family now. You can always work for security," she teased as she jogged a little up ahead to catch up with her family.

Flash stopped in his tracks with his jaw open.

"Security? Maybe I should join the army," he added as an afterthought. "Then again, knowing me, I'll probably lose a leg. I like my legs."

Flash Thompson didn't notice, nor care for that matter, that Hazel pretty much called him a friend of the family.

As a child, Hazel Stark was always odd. Looking back now, Tony was trying really hard not to notice how most of the things Hazel used to talk about were sort of coming true. Trapped in a cave and born with blood and fire, rise like the Phoenix like they all do.

Tony always thought it was just childish behavior. Parents with more experience than Tony probably would have shaken their heads and said it wasn't normal. This, after all, is the same person that used to skip around in a black suit and her own pair of sunglasses. It freaked Pepper out because it wasn't ladylike, and she was often forced to go dress shopping with May because May didn't like her style. Hazel still continued to wear it though, until high school had come along.

Point being, Hazel was always odd. Tony looked through the only thing in the tower that he owned that wasn't technology. It was an old box, in which he mostly kept things that Hazel had given him or had forgotten about, from school reporters, awards, and even a pair of sunglasses or two. But that wasn't what Tony was looking for; it was the pictures. He threw them down onto his bench. There was over a dozen. The paper was old and worn, showing time had gotten the better of them. They were turning yellow, with little tears here and there. The drawings were still there, some fading away and not as bright as they once were. There were childish drawings and stick figures alike. There it was! The one that he was looking for. A suit-like figure in red and gold, staring right back at him on now stained yellow paper.

The words down at the bottom said, Iron Man. Tony smiled. He knew what his suit would look like. As he turned away, he stopped to glance at the picture the Iron Man was hiding. From gold, red, blue, green and even purple, stood four odd people. He reconsidered one of them being Captain America, as he could tell by the shield.

But the others he didn't recognize, with guns, a bow and arrow, and even a hammer. He was sure the guy in gold with what looked to be a red cape following behind him was meant to be Thor, the god of Thunder, but that couldn't be right. Thor was fake. Wasn't he?

He blinked at one piece of paper hiding behind the one he was staring at. Removing it, he couldn't help but choke on air. How did he not work this out sooner? A rough drawing of Spiderman was there.

This time, he's going to be an Avenger.

He was kind of glad that nobody walked in the moment he dropped his jaw and stared blankly at the paper. Childhood fantasy, Tony told himself. That's all it was, and some of it coming true was just good timing. Tony nodded proudly. Yup, good timing.

"Sir."

JARVIS's voice snapped Tony out of his thoughts. "Mrs. Parker is calling for you, saying dinner is ready, and I quote, 'if you don't come out of that lab in ten minutes I'm dragging you up here and we're taking the stairs,' end quote."

Tony blinked, gently placed the paper down, and made a run for it. A furious May Parker was something nobody wanted to deal with, even on a good day.

Let's see 98 followers, 59 favs and 16 reviews. (Falls over backwards.)

I say this every time and you guys, must be tired of hearing it, but thank you. Thank you to 98 followers and 59 favs. Thanks to all 16 reviews and big thanks to those that review last chapter.

Sailor Luck: I won't lie either, that part was the most fun to write.

Lavendor Queen: Yep. It took nine chapters later, but their finally together. All thanks to those bees.

As always, feel free to fav, follow and reivew. Until next time, see ya!