''I thought mom and dad took away your phone?''

Abby turned her head to look over at her brother standing by her door, arms folded and yawning. That boy way always so tired.

''Well I have a backup,'' she shrugged. ''Which you won't tell them about,''

''Right,'' Lucas rolled his eyes as he walked further into his sister's room.

Abby's room was never dirty, but she was not someone who could ever keep things tidy. Clothes were laying all over the floor, parts of a toy robot she had been updating for months now laying in pieces in the corner. Lucas bypassed all of this and sat on the end of her bed, picking up one of her NASA magazines.

Peering at her brother from over the top of her backup cell, Abby felt overly suspicious.

''What do you want?'' she asked.

''Nothing,'' he shrugged.

''Luke,''

Letting out a huff, Lucas looked over to the vacant doorway before speaking.

''I don't think you're going to Uncle Rhodey's beach house,''

Abby sat up straight, a look of anger on her face.

''What? It's Coop's birthday, it's a beach party!''

Lucas shook his head, gesturing for Abby to lower her voice.

''Be quiet! It's just a head's up, I heard mom and dad talking about it,''

''They're not letting me go?''

''Honestly, after what happened are you surprised?''

''But it's our cousin's birthday,''

''You were on the news,'' Luke reminded.

Abby looked at her brother angrily, frustrated at her parents. She had accepted that she had done the wrong thing, they argued and punished her for it already. There was nothing else Abby could do to fix what happened.

Hopping up off the bed, Abby marched toward her door and downstairs to where her parents were sitting out on the balcony. Tony was drinking his coffee and checking the weather as Pepper finished packing up their bags for the day at the beach. It was just going to be them and Rhodey's family all day. Swimming, eating, relaxing.

''We're leaving soon?'' Abby asked, noticing how ready they both seemed.

Pepper and Tony exchanged a look before readying themselves for another fight.

''You know you're grounded,'' Tony told his daughter.

''Yeah from my friends and any socializing, but come on,'' Abby shook her head, hands going to her hips. ''This is different,''

''I don't think you get to enjoy a beach day when you're being punished,'' Pepper pointed out. ''What you did-''

''Was bad, yeah I get it mom, you've dragged on about it long enough I'll never forget,'' Abby threw her hands up. ''How long are you going to punish me for it? I said sorry,''

''Hey, watch it Abby,'' Tony warned.

''No, I've apologized so much about that party and you guys don't seem to be listening,'' she complained. ''It's not like I meant for any of it to get out,''

''That's the problem Abby,'' Pepper folded her arms sternly. ''You're not apologizing for what you did, you're apologizing that someone got it to the press and we found out,''

Abby shrugged her shoulders dramatically and rolled her eyes. Typical teenager in the middle of an argument.

''I'm sorry you found out, I am! But I'm not sorry for trying to have fun like everyone else my age,''

''You have no idea what could have happened to you. If you got hurt or someone tried anything, we wouldn't have a clue where you were,'' Tony cut in, explaining firmly why they were so angry.

''Well forgive me for trying to have fun for once and actually be my age,'' Abby snapped. ''For trying to have my own life and be a normal kid!''

''Do not turn this back on us Abigail. You're grounded, end of discussion!''

Abby curled her hands into fists and stomped away from her parents, wishing she had something to hit or break.

''I'm going to have an aneurysm,'' Pepper rubbed her temples, sitting back down.

''What is going on with her? She's never been like this,'' Tony sighed.

''She's almost eighteen, she's just trying to prove something to us,''

''I used to do all of that partying stuff when I was her age Pep,'' Tony shook his head. ''And you know why I did it? To piss off my parents,''

Pepper chuckled and let out a quiet groan. Being a parent was her toughest job ever.

''Well, if that's what she was aiming for, she's succeeded tremendously,''


Pepper and Sarah were sitting the shade out on the balcony just inches from the sandy shores, sipping on glasses of wine and chatting together about everything from work, children and the idea of taking a holiday soon. Tony and Rhodey stood out with their feet in the cool water, supervising their sons playing together on body boards and making sure they included Bella.

As he watched and listened to the kids laughter, Tony couldn't get rid of his feelings of guilt for making Abby miss out on all of this. It was a family event after all, but what Abby did warranted a pretty hefty punishment.

''I wish there was a guide book for teenage girls,'' Tony shook his head.

''So do I man. I am not looking forward to Bella going through the teen phase,'' Rhodey agreed.

''Me and Pepper are just losing our minds. Abby's almost eighteen, there's a lot we're letting her get away with, but partying is just...since when did my little girl want to go out and get wasted? When did that happen? It's like one minute she's holding my hand and drawing pictures and the next she's on the news,''

''When you were Abby's age, what were you out doing Tony?'' Rhodey asked.

Tony looked over to his friend with raised eyebrows.

''Exactly,'' Rhodey chuckled.

''That's why it's so hard. I did the same thing at her age, I wanted to be a normal kid as well and I wanted to have fun just like everyone else my age,'' he shrugged. ''But I don't want her growing up with the reputation I had,''

''How about telling her that?'' Rhodey suggested, looking back to the water where he heard splashing and laughter.

''You try talking any sort of sense to a sensitive teenager,'' Tony sighed.

''You're not making me look forward to my girl growing up,'' Rhodey shook his head.

''Hey, at least you'll have me to walk you through it,'' Tony shrugged with a laugh. ''If I survive,''


Nutella never tasted better than straight from the jar. Abby had been snacking on the hazelnut treat all day, a spoon dangling from her mouth as she moved around the workshop downstairs. Miniature parts were all over the place, the robot toy from her room finally being given the attention it had been calling out for.

Tony had the workshop on lockdown whenever he was out of the house, but Abby was allowed in to access tools and tools only. No cabinets would open, no files would allow her access and Jarvis would secure everything that the teen was not allowed to touch. Although Abby was sure she knew the override code to almost every security setting in the house, she wasn't interested in snooping any further than the tools today.

For almost two hours after her parents and Lucas left for her Uncle Rhodey's, Abby had been furious. She contemplated what she could do to vent all of her frustration, the idea of smashing things and putting herself into more trouble running through her mind before she settled on choosing something to rebuild. She knew that Lucas was enjoy; it could fly and set things on fire, it was perfect for a teenage boy.

Tony always saw the potential in his daughter's work. She was remarkably intelligent and she took to creating technology just was passionately as Tony did when he was her age, but she didn't have the drive that he did. When Tony was younger all he wanted to do was make a name for himself, for everyone to know what he could do, and he did exactly that and more. But Abby thought the world already had a name for her, they already made up their mind on what kind of person she was going to be. But instead of working to change it, she rebelled against it.

''Miss Stark, your parents have arrived home,'' Jarvis announced.

Abby let out a long sigh as she pushed the robotic toy away from her and sat back against the workbench behind her. Such a small little project had taken away so much frustration. At least her parents weren't coming home to a trashed house.

''Jarvis, where's Abby?'' Tony asked as he and Pepper walked through the front door.

''She is currently downstairs in the workshop Mr Stark,''

Pepper worried whenever Abby was down there by herself. There were too many machines and dangerous tech in the workshop for an accident not to happen. She hated leaving the house and knowing that her children might get hurt by going in there, but Tony assured her there were codes put in place to prevent anything from happening.

Pepper followed Tony down the stairs to the workshop, looking around for Abby immediately and spotting her leaning against the desk, staring at a small robot sitting in front of her. She had grease stains all over her white tee shirt and smudges all around her face, but completely unharmed.

''What's that?'' Tony asked as they stepped inside.

''A robot, for Luke,'' Abby answered with a shrug. ''Where is he?''

''He's staying at the beach house a while longer,'' Pepper explained, taking a seat on the couch across from her daughter.

''Well, I guess someone in this family has to have some fun, right?'' she sighed, stretching her arms.

''I don't want to argue with you again over this Abby,'' Pepper shook her head.

''Mom, I'm not trying to argue with you, but you won't let me explain anything that I did,'' Abby continued.

''I know why you did what you did, I know that you're just trying to have the life that everyone else at school has,'' her mother replied. ''But as unfortunate as it is at times, you're not a normal child like everyone else. You're apart of a family that is in the spotlight and therefore so are you,''

''But I don't want to be in the spotlight,''

''We don't want that for your either Abby, not for you or Lucas,'' Tony cut in, folding his arms. ''But that's where we're at, we've been dealing with it for a long time now,''

Abby pushed her legs out in front of her with a huff, letting her arms fall to her sides.

''I just thought I could feel normal for once,'' she looked down at her feet. ''I could be like them, I could let go and actually have fun. I'm proud to be a Stark, don't mistake that, but I just wish I could be my own Stark. Not the daughter of Iron Man or Stark Industries CEO, not the granddaughter of a weapons war hero, but my own person,''

Pepper smiled over to her daughter proudly. There may have been some things Abby had done recently that made Pepper furious, but right now she knew that she and Tony had raised an intelligent, independent and beautiful daughter who was going to make her way in the world no matter what got in her way.