Disclaimer: I do not own Iron Man.

I wasn't ready to talk to him yet so I let the call ring out. His wasn't the call I was waiting for.

I wanted dad to call. But I didn't want him to call.

I wanted to hear why he acted like a fool. But I didn't want to hear his excuses.

He was probably too drunk to dial a phone so I didn't really expect to hear from him tonight.

I heard Pepper's phone ring and her voice muffled through the walls. I gathered Rhodey had called her after I didn't answer. I wondered what he was saying. I heard my name being said.

After a few minutes I heard Pepper say goodbye and soon the light coming through under my door vanished, indicating she had gone to bed. I doubted either of us were going to get enough sleep tonight. I was already planning in my head what I should do. Tomorrow I would go by the house, pack as much as my belongings as I could and stay in a hotel. And then I would start looking for a place of my own. I had still been hesitant about moving out after my talk with dad in the garage but his actions tonight had just made my decision easier. I was so sick of worrying about him, being the one who had to look out for him and make sure he didn't do something stupid. I am the teenager for god's sake, it should be the other way around. He should be worrying about what I'm doing.

I was done. I'd put up with this kind of crap before Afghanistan. The constant parties, the one night stands, the drinking. I'd thought he'd changed. I'd thought he'd realised that there was more to life than girls and booze. But he had just shown me tonight that he wasn't the changed man I thought he was. He was still the same drunken idiot. The only thing that has changed is me. I'm not going to put up with it anymore. If he wants to drink away his life and go back to being seen as just a billionaire playboy, fine, it's his life, but I'm not going to stand around and watch.

My head and back were still throbbing with pain but somehow I managed to fall asleep. I only got a few hours' sleep before I was awoken by the sounds of Pepper getting ready for the day. I looked at my phone to see it was 6:30 am. I was glad that the noise had pulled me from sleep. I wanted to get over to the house as early as I could as dad would probably still be sleeping off his hangover. I wasn't ready to see him yet.

My clothes, still on the floor from where I had dumped them the night before, were covered with dirt, blood and had holes in them from the glass. I picked them up, walked out of my room and into the bathroom and chucked them straight into the bin. Pepper had already laid out a pair of jeans (one of the few pairs she owned) and a blue tee on the racks on the wall. Although she was slightly taller than me, we were almost the same size so the clothes would fit fine. I jumped into the shower and the water was coloured brown as it ran down the drain. I hadn't realised how much dirt and dust the blast had covered me in. I felt guilty for sleeping in Pepper's spare bed in my state but vanished that guilt by promising to myself to buy her new sheets.

After blow drying my hair, I inspected myself in the mirror above the sink. I didn't look as bad as I expected. Dark bags were under my eyes thanks to my sleepless night. The cuts on my face didn't look as bad as they had last night since I'd wiped away the blood. They were small enough that they looked like they'd heal without scaring. I was thankful since it could have been a lot worse. I rolled up the ends of the jeans slightly, put on my converse sneakers and made my way downstairs. Pepper, all made up and ready to go, was standing in the kitchen finishing her cup of coffee. She smiled as I arrived and I thanked her for the clothes. After she had poured a cup of coffee for me, she slid into the seat opposite mine at the table.

"What are you going to do today?" she asked.

"I'm going to get some of my stuff and start looking for my own place."

I hadn't told Pepper yet about my idea of moving out so I was unsure of her reaction but surprisingly she nodded. She of all people knew how mature and responsible I was so I guess she thought, even at 17, I was capable of living on my own.

"What are you going to do today?" I asked.

Pepper sighed. "Go into work and pray that not too many videos of last night made it up onto the internet. Although I expect people have already talked to the media. I'll probably have to field calls all day." Poor Pepper. After getting a promotion, she wasn't dad's assistant anymore but she was still picking up the mess he left behind. I wondered if Natalie would be doing the same today.

"Rhodey called last night," Pepper said as she wrapped her hands around her mug. "He called to ask if you were okay. And to let me know he took the suit with him."

"Is he bringing it back?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "But if he doesn't, I'll have to start calling up our lawyers. I won't like it but he did take Stark property."

I wasn't happy about Rhodey taking our suit. I hoped he would return it but something told me that wasn't going to happen soon. I just hoped he hadn't done something like give it to the people we had been trying to keep it from. If he had, I doubted we would ever get it back.

Pepper got up and tipped the rest of her drink into the sink before suddenly spinning around. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm supposed to be flying out to New York this afternoon."

"The Expo?" I asked.

She nodded. "Hammer's doing some presentation tomorrow night."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of that idiot.

"I know," Pepper said in response to my reaction. "But I thought I would ask if you would like to come."

I thought that over. Would I rather stay here in California, looking for houses and wallowing in sadness or would I rather go to New York, escaping for a few days, even if I had to sit through Hammer's stupid presentation?

"That would be good," I said.

Pepper offered me a lift to the house but I declined, for two reasons. One, it was out of her way since Stark Industries was in the opposite direction and two, I knew she didn't want to see dad yet either.

Unfortunately I hadn't had the sense to grab my purse last night so Pepper had to lend me money for the taxi. She gave me a hug before leaving. After she had taken off in her Audi, I sat at the kitchen table for a few more minutes, sucking up the courage to leave. Better just get it over and done with. The earlier I went, the more chance I had of not seeing him.

I stared out the window during the cab ride, noting that during the night the pain had dulled in my back. I paid the driver as we pulled up to the gates and went through the process of proving my identity to enter. The gates swung open and I started up the driveway. With each step I took my heart pounded faster in my chest. The front door was wide open still and the damage could be seen, even at a distance. I stepped into the house, trying to make as little noise as possible. I didn't even know if he was here. Maybe he'd flown off somewhere after the fight? I considered asking J.A.R.V.I.S if he was here but decided against it since dad might hear it if he was here. I was still hoping to make it in and out without him knowing. But instead of going instantly upstairs, I took cautious steps through the rubble of glass and cement of the floor and surveyed the wall that had been smashed into. The damage looked even worse in the light. They had flown through two walls into the exercise room, which was half destroyed. Suddenly I couldn't stand to look at anymore. My anger was rising again.

My anger only increased when I walked into my room and was reminded that it too had been damaged. The hole in my floor was at least a meter wide and gave me a perfect view into what was once the entertaining room. That wasn't the only damage to the room. They must have landed on my bed because it was lying on the floor in pieces. Fantastic.

I edged my way around the hole and entered my wardrobe. After pulling out a large suitcase I began packing. Right now I was only packing what I would need for the next few days at a hotel. Once I bought a place I would have to come back for the rest of my stuff.

I was leaving my room, suitcase and handbag in hand, when I saw something on the floor that made me stop. I walked over to my bedside table and picked up the frame that had fallen to the floor beside it. Looking down at one of the few photos I had of myself and my mother, tears formed in my eyes. In the photo she was cradling me with a huge smile on her face. I had only been hours old. As I stared at the photo and the broken glass from the frame on the floor, my anger returned. For some reason seeing this picture broken made me angrier than seeing any of the damage done to the house. I pulled the picture out of the broken frame and slid it into my suitcase.

I grabbed my keys to my Audi and made my way downstairs. The lights in the garage weren't on so I thought that I was going to make it out without being seen. However, those hopes were dashed when I went to enter the garage. My fingers paused on the keypad. Sitting near the back of the garage, near the kitchenette, was dad. From where I stood, I could just see he was watching a video of his father on a projector. That was the last thing I expected to see him doing. I began to think of reasons why he would be watching a video of his father but I gave up almost instantly. These days I had no idea what the hell was going on in my father's head.

I was stuck between two choices. I could either go back upstairs and down the driveway to get a cab. He wouldn't know I had even been here. Or I could stick to my plan, walk over to my Audi and drive away. But there was no chance I could do that without drawing dad's attention to my presence.

Just bite the bullet. I punched in the code and opened the door. As expected, dad turned around to see who it was. I kept my eyes on my car as I strode across the garage. Within seconds he was up off his chair and making his way towards me.

"Morgan," he said in a desperate tone.

As quick as I could I chucked my suitcase in the trunk. Dad was standing by the hood of my car.

"Please, just let me explain," he said as I went to open my door.

I froze. He wanted to explain why he damaged our home? Without thinking, I slammed the door shut and stomped over to where he stood.

"You want to explain?" I said with surprising fury. "You want to explain how you destroyed half of our house? No! You don't get to explain! You don't get to say you're sorry and give some bullshit excuse! Because there is no excuse for what you did!"

I had never spoken this way to my father before, and the shock was evident on his face, but I wasn't going to back down. Because these things needed to be said.

"You destroyed half of this house. Not only that, you put the lives of everyone who was here in danger. You put my life in danger. Did you even see me on the balcony? Recognise me? I was standing on that balcony as you and Rhodey blasted each other. And if I hadn't of moved in time, I would be dead. You would have killed me."

The impact of that statement hit home. I watched the colour drain from his face as he realised just how close he had come to destroying more than his house. The injuries on my face served as my evidence.

He looked me dead in the eyes as he spoke. "I'm sorry Morgan."

I could hear the sincerity in his words but right now it just wasn't enough. "I know. But that just doesn't make everything alright."

"We can fix the house. We can-"

"It's not just the house dad!" I stepped back from him, trying to put some distance between us. "It's you! For months you have been acting strange, making stupid decisions and this was just this tip of the iceberg! It don't know what's going on because you won't tell me!"

Apparently he still wasn't ready to tell me because he remained silent as he averted his gaze from mine.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my tone. "I'm done dad. Until you're ready to talk to me, I can't be here. I'm going to New York with Pepper and then I'm going to find a place of my own."

"Don't. Please don't. Just stay."

"I can't. You destroyed my bedroom, or don't you remember?" I opened my car door but paused as my mind flashed back to the broken picture on my floor. I knew this would be a low blow but maybe he needed to hear it. "What would mom say if she could see what you've done? This was her home too. I honestly hope, wherever she is, that she can't see what you've become."

Without another word, I hoped into my car and shut the door. Dad, with a look I had never seen upon his face, moved out of my way and watched as I drove away. I felt horrible but told myself over and over that it needed to be said. It had been obvious that dad had been regretting his drunken actions of last night but the fact remained that it was too little, too late. What was done was done and no amount of apologizes was going to change that.

Driving back to Pepper's place, I found myself biting my lip to keep myself from crying. From anger or sadness, I couldn't tell. Like all kids, I'd fought with my dad before, but nothing like this. I had no idea if our relationship would ever be the same again.

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