Hello! It's me again! Hope you guys liked the last chapter and thank you everyone who reviewed! It's good to be back writing this again.
And please, if there are any situations you'd like me to incorperate within the story or any ideas at all (of course i'd credit you) they would be a great help!
Enjoy the Chapter!

"Jacqueline Maria Stark. You are not, I repeat not joining the Army."

I have seen my father mad before. Hell, he has had some veins pop in when having some conversations with Obadiah and sometimes even Pepper when neither would listen to each other. However, in this very moment. This is the angriest I had ever seen him.

"I did what you wanted Dad. I went to college, I got my degree. I told you I wanted to join the army when I turned 18 but no, college first you said. I don't care what you say, I am joining." I shouted back at him.

"Jac. You're a smart girl. You have a degree in mechanics for God's sake. You can work with me at the company, help me make new designs? Please I'm begging you anything but this."

I laughed, more like a grunted, surprised chuckle of sheer amazement of his request.

"So instead of joining the army, serving my country and full fill the dream I've had since I could remember, you want me to build the weapons that they will use to do just that. How is it any different? Instead of making weapons of mass destruction, I'll just be using them."

He looked stunned but, only for a moment. He couldn't let his guard down so easy in an argument with his daughter.

"Go on. Go ahead, join the army. But so help me god, if you so much as get a scratch on your face I'm pulling you out of there. And I won't be subtle about it." He pointed at me with the best stern face he could muster. He was upset, I knew that and it was never what I wanted to do to him. I've wanted to be a solider for the longest time and nothing was going to get in my way. Not even my love for my only parent.

"Are you ever subtle Dad?" I grinned and embraced him around his waist while he hugged my shoulders so tightly that it was like he didn't ever want to let go.

Right hook, left hook, right, left, right, left. I stood in my father personalised boxing ring in his house, punching with full force every time. Holding the boxing pads and taking each punch was Agent of Shield, Natasha Romanoff or Natalie Rush man according to her alias. I needed an outlet for my rage towards my Dad and punching him in the face on his birthday wasn't the best course of action. Nat humbling suggested a sparring session, I've seen her fight and it's nothing short of intimidating to say the least. She is the most well trained assassin the world and I'm sure glad she is on our side.

"So why did my dad hire you any ways? I know you're here to keep tabs on him but he must have wanted you around. He doesn't take to strangers in his house very easily." I inquired, Nat and I were friends but we weren't "girl friends". We didn't swap make up tips or chat about the latest episode of Gossip Girl, we kept our relationship professional and had each other's back. Everything you could want and need from Shield agents.

"I just have that way about me; wink a little, flirt a little. Men, no offence to your dad, are easy to manipulate." She responded with a cool, coy look on her face while I continued to punch the pads. We would sometimes spar but I felt like my leg got in the way to easy. Although it was light for me to move, it was sometimes an unfair advantage on a playful fight.

"But still, Pepper is his assistant, why the sudden change?"

"He made her CEO of the company." I stopped mid punch. My chest felt heavy. I imagined this is how my dad's chest much feel all the time. Like the world rested itself on me.

I love Pepper. She's the one, the only one that had been always there. When I lost my mum, when I lost my leg, lost my dad. She was there. And now she has inherited the company that was mine. What hurt most was that neither Dad nor Pepper had told me.

I didn't want the company. I never have. But I knew that one day, when I lost my father that it would be mine and my responsibility to run, as Stark. And I would one day take that mantel and maintain the family name.
Tonight was just getting better and better. First Dad, now Pepper. What more could go wrong?

Meanwhile
Rhodey let himself into the Stark Mansion. He needed to see Tony about his recent phone call with the Nation Guard concerning Ivan Yanko. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation one bit but, if anyone can knock some sense into him it was Jac, who he noticed was boxing with Tony's new assistant in the gym next to the living room, and Himself. He made his way down the stairs to the garage where he knew Tony would be. At first he doubted his friend was in there if it wasn't for the one screen illuminating the room. He spotted Tony in the car staring intently at the files of Yanko. One step ahead like always, Rhodey thought to himself. He punched in his security code and popped his heard through the door.

"Tony, you need to get up stairs and take care of this situation right now."

Tony made no move to get up, not even an inch from his seat and continued to watch the screen.
Rhodey travelled further into the garage, growing more concerned.

"Listen, I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day. Trying to talk the out of bring tanks to your house and taking these." Rhodey the points to the suits on his right to emphasis his point but Tony still didn't move. "They are going to take your suits Tony, okay."

Rhodey could feel his face getting more heated with every point he made to his best friend who took no interest in anything he had to say.

"You said that no would possess this technology for twenty years, well guess what, somebody else had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore." Rhodey could have sworn that Tony was asleep with the complete lack of response he was giving him, Rhodey then touched his shoulder and shook him slightly, loose his cool with him. "Are you listening to me?"

Rhodey had never seen his friend this way. Tony looked pale, so pale the shadows from the room made his cheeks look so hollow. His eyes were watery and heavy with bags underneath. He looked completely drained.
"Are you okay?" Rhodey knew it was stupid question to ask, he clearly wasn't okay.

Tony moved to get out the car and let out a small grunt of pain and stumbled next to the car. Rhodey moved quickly to grab his friend before he fell on his face. Rhodey then thought he might be drunk. This wasn't going to be easy, he thought glumly.

"Get me over to my desk." Tony's voice rattled and wheezed. Okay he isn't drunk, makes a change, Rhodey thought. "See that box…"

"Yeah."

"It's the palladium."

Rhodey opens the box to reveal six containments for palladium chips, two of which were missing.
Tony removed his arc reactor and the chip had already burned out.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey asked, face full of concern pointing at the burned metal in Tony's hand.

Tony ignores him. And hands him the Arc Rector.

Rhodey had only held his strange this once or twice before and he never got over the weight of it. He removed the charred palladium.

"You had this in your body. Looks like Jac's steaks on the Fourth of July." He tried to lighten the mood with something he knew would make Tony laugh or even crack a smile but, nothing. Not even a twinkle in his eye.
Tony turned away breathless but Rhodey can't take his eyes off his friend who was clearly suffering.
He then noticed the blue squared lines reaching from Tony's collarbone up his neck.

"How about that high tech cross word puzzle on your neck?"

"Road rash." He takes the arc reactor and places it back in his body tiredly. He taps it twice and inhales sharply when the familiar blue light from his chest returns, all while Rhodey looks at his friend, face full of concern.

Tony takes his drink ready to gulp it down, feeling out of breath. Before turning to his friend once more he felt his eyes boring in to his back.

"What are you looking at?" Tony snapped, before returning to his drink.

"I'm looking at you. You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act, and it's unnecessary, you don't have to do this alone. You have me, you have Pep and Jac-"

Tony turned then, light he had been struck by lightning, "Jac doesn't know. She can't know."

"She is your daughter Tony. If this is serious. If this is life threatening you need to tell her."

Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes. Rhodey had never seen him like this. Not when Jac's Mother died, not when he returned from his captivity. Never, not once. Something was really wrong with him.

"I want her to take over from me. But in my way. She wants to be a solider, she always wanted that. I want her to be Iron Man when I'm gone. Be a solider but a powerful one, one that no one on earth would mess with. I even made her a suit, said I wanted her to join me. Like a father/daughter tag team. She said she wanted to go back into the field, as an Agent. More risks, more danger. I want to shake some sense into her and tell her what's going to happen to me but, guilt tripping my daughter isn't how I want her so remember me. It's not really my style." Rhodey waited for him to finish, it wasn't often that Tony opened up to him in this way.

"You're going to let style get in the way with your final moments with your daughter?" Rhodey didn't want to start a fight with his friend but he could talk bull a lot of the time.

"She'll know what I've done for her. And she'll know that I love her, no matter what decision she makes. I just want her safe when I'm not around to protect her. As her father or as Iron Man. We are all each other have of family, I couldn't bare to lose her."

Rhodey looks at him for a long moment. "How do you think, she'd feel when she loses you and you weren't honest with her."

"C'mon, it's my birthday. I want this one to go off with a bang." Tony raised his hand asking for help up.
"I'm serious Tony. You are my best friend. Jac is my God Daughter. I don't want to see either of your hurt. Tell her."

Tony stared at his friend for a long moment, "This is why you're my friend Rhodey. You keep me honest." He smirked with the twinkle resurfacing in his eyes.

This one was getting a little long to it has been cut in two. I shall be posting the second part soon.