Disclaimer: We do not own the characters or concepts from Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or MARVEL. Those rights go to JK Rowling, Rick Riordan, and MARVEL Studios respectively.

AN: This story is co-written by shadowphoenix55. Read and review!

Chapter Eleven

By shadowphoenix55

"Why can't I go to the meeting?" Annabeth asked for the hundredth time, "I'm the most qualified of the interns to provide the correct numbers -"

"Stark Industries will not allow a newbie intern, let alone a little girl, be the representation of the largest working force in the company." Kris responded, "Mr. Stark will be there, and if you get one number wrong, he'll personally fire you."

"I'm willing to take that chance." Annabeth commented hotly.

"Well I'm not." Kris shot back, "You will make us all look bad, Chase."

Annabeth huffed, turning away.

"Hoffman." She said as he was walking to the conference room, "The EBITDA is wrong. It should be 12 billion higher."

Annabeth watched as Kris looked down at the paper and cursed. He took out a pen and crossed it out.

"Some other numbers could be wrong, too." Annabeth continued slyly, "I haven't checked them."

She turned.

"Oh, and if they are wrong - I hope Stark doesn't-"

"Get over here, Chase." Kris said. Annabeth turned back, internally doing a happy dance, "And wipe that smirk off your face. You'll be in the corner, checking numbers."

Annabeth's smirk never left.

—-

An hour later, Annabeth wished she could facepalm. The group had been talking about how to sell clean, arc-reactor based energy to individuals for at least three hours. Individuals couldn't pay for their own arc reactors, but Stark Industries wouldn't be making a profit if they sold the arc reactors at a "reasonable" price.

Annabeth apparently wasn't the only one who was annoyed; Tony Stark was rolling his eyes at the ceiling while eating a hamburger. How he kept pulling hamburgers out of his pocket, Annabeth didn't know, but he seemed like he was more bored than he'd ever been. Annabeth has heard stories of his aloofness at meetings, but seeing it in person added a whole nother layer.

"You all have ten minutes before I leave." Stark interrupted, and the previously loud room went silent, "So, does anyone actually have an idea that gives us a profit while getting clean energy to individuals?"

Silence.

Annabeth's brain just went seriously? These were Tony Stark's "top workers"?

"Well, that's my cue to leave." Stark announced, standing up and turning around, "By-"

"Wait!" Annabeth said. As soon as the words left her mouth, Annabeth cursed her impulses, "Um-Mr. Stark. Why don't you just sell one large arc reactor to cities, and they can sell parts of the energy to smaller individuals?"

Silence. Tony Stark turned back. His eyes bored into Annabeth's.

"Who is she?" Stark asked someone to his left.

"Annabeth Chase, and she can talk for herself." Annabeth snipped. Oops, "Sir."

"Alright, Annabeth Chase, tell me how that would decrease the price for individuals. They would simply be charged the same amount-"

"Actually, the city would charge them a reasonable amount. Personalized arc reactors would generate a lot of extra energy that wouldn't ever be used. Having one reactor allows people to pay for just the right amount of energy."

"Where was she all this time?" Stark asked, but he sat back down, "So you have my attention. But there's one more thing that doesn't fit; there's no way we can create an arc reactor that would power New York City without it filling too much space."

"You're Tony Stark." Annabeth replied dryly, "You made an arc reactor in a cave. You can make a higher powered, more efficient reactor as long as you set your mind to it."

Stark looked a bit egotistic.

"Also, if you simply ejected more electrons from the core towards the rim, the voltage and current would increase, and the way to do that is by ionizing -" Annabeth started -

"Pd-103 with a more efficient electric arc." Annabeth and Tony finished at the same time. Stark gave her a long, surprised look. Annabeth waited impatiently, fidgeting.

"Alright." Stark finally said, speaking to the whole conference room, who had clearly been left behind by the conversation, "You all got that? We're going with the girl's idea." He directed his attention back to Annabeth, "You're an intern?"

Annabeth nodded.

"Well, we're going to fix that." He replied, "Follow me, Annabeth Chase."

—-

"How long have you been an intern here?" Stark asked as they took the elevator up.

"A month or two." Annabeth replied. Stark looked a bit surprised.

"How long have you been studying arc reactors?"

"Well, ever since you made one, I've been a bit curious, but I haven't had time to study them until a few months before I came here. I was juggling a couple other things, however, so I didn't have that much time -"

"So you became an expert in arc reactors in around four, five months." Stark said, cutting her off.

"Not an expert." Annabeth said, trying to be humble.

"Of course not." Stark replied, "Did I say that? Well, I'm the only expert around here."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Obviously, Stark saw it.

"And you're a teenager." Stark commented dryly, "Are you even old enough to be working here?"

"Are you even old enough to be asking that question?" Annabeth shot back. Stark stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, before letting out a chuckle.

"I guess not." Stark replied. The elevator opened.

"Welcome back, Mr. Stark." Came a British voice, "How was your meeting?"

"Awful." Stark replied to thin air, "But it ended on an interesting note."

"Ah." The voice replied, "I wondered why you brought Annabeth Chase up here."

"Hello." Annabeth said, the dots in her head connecting, "Are you JARVIS?"

The voice sounded pleased.

"Well, yes, I am." JARVIS replied.

"It's nice to meet you." Annabeth commented.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Chase." JARVIS replied, sounding even happier, "Would you like me to call you Miss Chase, or would you prefer something else?"

"Actually, could you call me Annabeth?" Annabeth asked, "Miss Chase makes me feel old. You call Mr. Stark that way because he's old, and I'm definitely not as old as him."

Stark made some sort of squawking noise in protest.

"You are right, Annabeth." JARVIS replied, "You are much younger than Mr. Stark - why, he's practically an old man himself."

More squawking.

"Would you like me to call you by something other than JARVIS?" Annabeth asked politely.

"Oh, you are too nice, Annabeth." JARVIS replied, "Unlike someone else I know." Annabeth wondered how JARVIS was programmed to have all of these humanistic responses, "But I rather like my name. Would you like a drink?"

"Lemonade would be great." Annabeth replied, "Thanks, JARVIS."

Sounds of movement came from the kitchen.

"JARVIS, call me Tony from now on." Stark commanded, obviously miffed.

"Of course, Mr. Stark." Annabeth snickered at JARVIS' comment, "Annabeth, your lemonade is ready in the kitchen."

"You are very efficient, JARVIS." Annabeth complimented. The room felt warmer, after that.

"Why, thank you, Annabeth." JARVIS replied.

"Alright, enough bonding with the intern!" Tony cut in, looking annoyed.

"I thought I wasn't an intern, anymore?" Annabeth asked slyly.

"You aren't, Annabeth." JARVIS interrupted, "Per Mr. Stark's request, you are now being paid for your services."

Stark grumbled something.

"What?" Annabeth asked innocently. Oh, messing with Stark was all too fun. For a second, she forgot that she was working with him.

"You have approximately ten seconds to get your lemonade and meet me at the table in the living room." He said, "Or you're fired."

Annabeth could tell he didn't really mean it.

"JARVIS would let me in, though." Annabeth replied confidently, "Right, JARVIS?"

"Of course, Annabeth."

Tony growled.

"Ten. Nine. Eight."

Annabeth ran off, smirking.

"Mr. Stark?" Came a voice. Both Annabeth and Tony looked up to see Pepper Potts standing there, papers in hand, "The governor wants a meeting tomorrow at-" Pepper paused as she spotted Annabeth and put on a disapproving face, "Who is this?"

"Not what you think it is." Tony cut in, "She's just a worker who is working with me on how to make the electric arc more efficient. Well, actually, she's more of here because she thought of the idea. I've done the work from there."

That was a lie. Annabeth Chase had contributed to the idea as much as Tony had, keeping up with his train of thoughts every step of the way. It was nice to speak with someone at his level, someone who had a mind as great as his. The girl had skill, Tony had to admit. Only to himself, however. He would never tell Annabeth - or Pepper, for that matter. He would never hear the end of it.

"My name is Annabeth Chase." Annabeth said. standing up and shaking Pepper's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Miss…"

"Potts." Pepper replied, "Pepper Potts. It's nice to meet you as well, Annabeth."

Tony wondered how in the world everyone liked Annabeth. First JARVIS, now Pepper…

"Well, I should probably be going." Annabeth said, looking at her watch, "The time slipped away from me, I think. My boyfriend is probably worrying."

Pepper looked relieved at that last sentence, and Tony resolved to talk to her later. Did she really think he would… Annabeth was seventeen, for goodness sake! Well, he didn't actually know how old she was… but that was his guess, anyways.

"Goodbye, Annabeth." Came JARVIS' voice, "You will find some cookies by the elevator. I figured that you liked chocolate chip."

Annabeth smiled.

"I do!" She said, "Thanks, JARVIS."

Tony wondered why JARVIS never got him cookies.

Annabeth turned back to Tony and Pepper.

"It was nice to meet you both." Annabeth said, "Good luck on the arc reactor, Mr. Stark."

She turned away.

"Wait!" Tony said. Annabeth turned back, "You're coming back tomorrow, right?"

Annabeth's smile lit up the whole room.

"Of course." She replied, "How could you do it without me?"

And then she left.

Tony found himself still envisioning that smile.

Dang it. The girl had grown on him.