Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any other Marvel characters. I only own my OC.
A/N: We are officially starting Iron Man 2 now you guys. Be ready. Also for those who are wondering again how old Grace is, she was six in Iron Man. Now she is seven years old starting in Iron Man 2. Anyways, I have a feeling all you Peter Parker fans are gonna love this chapter. Just saying. Have fun reading.
"Sometimes you don't know when you're taking the first step through a door until you're already inside."
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
Chapter 12: Cameras and autographs
Flushing, New York
It'd been six months now since Grace's Appendectomy. A surgery she fully recovered from in two weeks. During those two weeks her dad and her spent a lot more time together. He had even canceled a press tour in order to stay with her. They spent most of their time watching movies, listening to music, and did other fun things like play the occasional game of paper football.
Grace though made sure to keep up with her reading. As Tony told her, Pepper had bought her several new books for her to read, which Grace unsurprisingly finished during her recovery period. Tony of course teased her. Not that Grace minded. Her dad's teasing, when it came to her love for reading, was now taken as a form of affection.
Except what Tony hadn't told his daughter was that he preferred her to read her books than the comics Pepper got for her on the side. The reason why was because they hadn't been any ordinary type of comics. No, they'd been freakin' Captain America comics. Apparently Grace had mentioned wanting to read Captain America comics at some point to his redheaded assistant. Pepper of course had been kind of enough to get them for her...much to Tony's annoyance.
However, as much as Tony wanted to throw those Captain America comics in the trash, he did no such thing. He knew that would have upset Grace tremendously. And he didn't want to upset Grace during her post surgery recovery. So Tony did his best to push away any annoyance he had whenever seeing her read those damn Captain America comics.
Thankfully his daughter loved reading actual books more than comics. And now that she was fine again, Tony hardly saw her reading the comics out in the open. Though for all he knew she was still reading them in her bedroom. Despite him not liking that she read them, at least it was away from his viewing.
Now one would figure since Grace was better now that things would go back to how things were before. Her life though was far from how it was before. Aside from the whole surgery fiasco, it'd also been six months since Tony revealed he was Iron Man to the world.
Even with the eventual press tours he'd done, and various interviews, the buzz was still going on. It only seemed to ignite even more because of the Stark Expo that was currently happening.
Grace was just amongst the many people that were cheering for her dad right now. The only difference being that Happy and her were watching the show from backstage. They were away from the excited crowd that surrounded the large stage area where her dad proudly stood. Not long ago her dad had made his entrance. It had been as extravagant as the suit he was wearing.
The young Stark girl was still moving her head side to side as the song Shoot To Thrill remained in her head. She regained full composure when her dad's speech ended with him introducing a video of his father...Howard Stark.
Her dad still hadn't opened up much when it came to his own dad. Grace, however, recognized her grandfather from the giant screen he was on. Much like her own dad, Howard was wearing a nice suit. From what the video showed he was in some office.
Grace by now had seen lots of photos of her Grandfather Howard, along with her Grandmother Maria. The facial familiarity between him and Tony was there. The unfairness of not being able to meet him and her Grandmother Maria still made Grace feel sad. So she made sure to pay extra close attention to what her paternal grandfather said in the video.
"Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace. So, from all of us here at Stark industries, I would like to personally introduce you to the city of the future."
Grace couldn't help but awe over the cool looking diagram her grandfather was showing on screen. She wasn't the only one awed by it. The majority of the audience members were as well. There were a lot of people smiling, including herself.
However, as she and the majority of the people were enjoying the video, one person sure wasn't as happy. If Grace hadn't been so drawn in to what her grandfather was saying in the video she would have seen that her dad wasn't standing near Happy and her. No, instead Tony was hidden on the other side of the backstage. So neither Grace or anyone else saw him testing his blood...and no one saw the dismayed look that had fallen upon him after getting the results.
"No more tedious work, leaving more time for leisure activities and enjoying the sweet life. The Stark Expo. Welcome."
The video then ended and the Stark Expo logo was shown again. Once her grandfather was no longer on screen, Grace began asking Happy where her dad had gone. The dark haired girl didn't have to wait that long because her dad soon approached them.
Any dismay that had been on Tony's face was now long gone. Now that he was with his daughter he had an image to maintain. That image was to be the fun, healthy dad version of himself. He wasn't about to break her heart by telling her what was happening to him. He knew that the right thing would be to tell her (in fact tell everyone he cared about) but Tony was still hoping he'd find a way to stop the blood toxicity from getting worse. He wasn't giving up just yet.
"Dad, that was such a cool entrance!" Grace gushed to him as Happy began leading them out of backstage. "I still can't believe you jumped that high from a plane and landed perfectly on stage. I wish I could do that!" Her dark brown eyes gleamed with what she said next. "Can I go skydiving?"
Tony booped her nose. "Sure, honey." He grinned mischievously with what he said next, showing how very much he was against her jumping from a plane herself. "When raccoons can talk."
Grace immediately pouted and was going to protest when Happy gave his boss an odd look. "Why not just say when pigs fly?"
Tony casually shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to change it up a bit. Plus what if she finds a pig and throws it in the air and says that's flying. Can't risk it."
Grace gave her dad an astonished look. "I would never throw a pig dad! That's mean."
"You're right...besides, you wouldn't even be able to lift the pig. Those suckers are heavy." Tony joked. He grinned, booping her nose again. Grace playfully rolled her eyes at her dad's behavior.
Happy watched the father daughter duo with his own smile. Once they came to a stop by the door that would lead them outside, Happy handed a pair of sunglasses to both Tony and Grace. They each put on their sunglasses and then afterwards Tony threw his suit jacket at Happy. The man caught it in time as he went to warn Tony and Grace on what awaited them outside. "It's a zoo out there, watch out."
"Get ready to hold my hand, sweetie." Tony told his daughter as he stuck out one of his hands to her.
Grace already knew the drill. She nodded her head anyways as she took a hold of her dad's hand. Tony gave Happy a nod and the man opened the door. Grace was glad Happy gave her dad and her sunglasses because immediately the flashes from cameras started going off.
Even now Grace's dislike for big crowds hadn't changed but she was somewhat getting used to them ever since her dad told the world he was Iron Man. Just as long as she wasn't alone to handle the chaos. She wasn't ready to go solo just yet. What seven year old really was ready for that?
As they made their way through the crowd of photographers, and the usual fans, Grace didn't let go of her dad's hand. Even with her sunglasses, Grace took notice whenever a woman got too close to her dad. Tony did his best to avoid those encounters and Happy always intervened before things got too out of hand. Seeing Happy push a blonde woman away from her dad made Grace smile.
The chaos of the crowd somewhat settled down when Happy led them where there were a group of kids with their parents. Tony happily signed a young girl's photo that had Iron Man on it. The young girl gave him a toothy smile before looking at Grace.
Wanting to be nice, Grace returned the smile.
"Can you please sign this for my nephew?" An older brown haired man politely asked her dad. On closer look the man appeared to be somewhere near his late thirties. There with him was a young boy wearing an Iron Man helmet. The boy was even wearing a dark blue jacket with a t-shirt underneath that had the Stark Expo logo on it.
Tony saw no issues there. "Sure." He quickly signed the Iron Man photo the man had with him. "There you go, kid." He said as he handed the photo back to the man.
The young boy that was next to his uncle let out a laugh of excitement when Tony patted his helmet. Just as they were about to leave, the boy spoke.
"Can I get your autograph too?" The boy's voice was muffled due to his helmet but both Tony and Grace were able to hear him. He sounded like he was on the shy side.
At first Grace had no idea he was talking to her. But she quickly realized there was no one else he could be asking for an autograph. It became even more clear that the question had been for her when the boy tilted his head at her, awaiting for a response.
Now Tony normally would have said no. He never liked it when adults asked his daughter to sign things for them. Only this wasn't an adult asking for an autograph. It was a boy that looked to be around Grace's age. That changed things for him. He looked at his daughter. "It's up to you, sweetie."
It didn't take long for the Stark girl to come up with a decision. She wanted to continue being nice because she didn't really get to interact with people her age. She was still homeschooled so it wasn't like she saw kids on a daily basis. It was sad but the last person her age she had actually spent time with was Harry Osborn, and it had been at that event her dad took her to. That felt like forever ago. She wondered if Harry was in New York at the moment. She did miss him despite only knowing him that one time.
Another flash from a camera made her realize the boy with the Iron Man helmet was still waiting for her answer. She nodded her head. "Okay but only if you do the Iron Man pose."
Much to Tony's amusement he saw how the boy automatically knew which pose his daughter meant. He really was a fan. The boy lifted his right hand up as if he were about to use the pretend energy repulsor that was there. Tony found it adorable that the boy made sure not to point at his daughter, as if the pretend repulsor was going to cause her real harm. Ever the gentleman, huh? Tony chuckled. The boy held the pose for a few more seconds before he sheepishly lowered his hand.
Grace let go of her dad's hand. She smiled as she took hold of her dad's sharpie. She surprised the boy (along with everyone else that was there) when instead of signing the Iron Man photo he had, she instead signed the Iron Man helmet he was wearing. All that time she used to practice her cursive finally proved to be useful now.
The boy, although surprised, kept as still as possible as she did her signing. He didn't say a word to her either. Not even when she took a step back to get a better look at him once she was done.
"There you go." Grace smiled at him as she returned the sharpie back to her dad. "I gotta go now!" She chirped when Happy began to guide her dad and her away. She was once again holding her dad's hand. "Bye!" She waved before she fully faced forward again. The Stark girl completely missed how the boy managed to return the wave as he watched her leave.
Most of the crowd tried going outside to follow Tony and Grace Stark, but there were two people in that crowd that were content with where they stood.
"See, Peter." Benjamin Parker, or simply Ben as he was called by his wife and nephew, playfully patted said nephew's left shoulder. "I told you she'd be nice and sign. I thought she'd sign the photo but she went beyond and signed your helmet. Cool, right?"
Seven year old Peter Parker finally took off his Iron Man helmet. His brown hair was disheveled from wearing the helmet but at his age it was nothing but adorable. He looked at his Iron Man helmet and smiled brightly when he saw Grace's signature. "Yeah! you were right, Uncle Ben." He switched over to look at his uncle. "Now I have both their signatures!" He sounded so happy. "I can't wait to show Aunt May!" His smile grew brighter. "Ned's gonna think it's cool that I got to meet both Tony Stark and his daughter."
"That wasn't so bad." Happy said once the three of them were outside of the building. The cheering from inside could still be somewhat heard from outside. Tony and Grace took off their sunglasses and handed them to Happy.
"No, it was perfect." Tony agreed as they kept walking. Compared to how other events went this one didn't get too chaotic in regards to crowd interactions. He gave his daughter a hand squeeze and smiled when she squeezed back, a signal that let him know she agreed that everything went perfect.
Happy pointed to a cool looking silver car that was parked a few feet in front of them. Grace quickly took notice that there was a pretty auburn haired woman next to the car. She was wearing a purple blouse and a knee length skirt.
The young Stark girl by now was used to seeing pretty women. She had just seen a bunch try to get her dad's attention. By now she knew it was just a given during these kinds of events. Grace, however, wondered what the woman wanted. She didn't seem as excited as the women from inside had been.
"Sweetie, why don't sit in the back and buckle up." Tony said to his daughter before gently passing her over to Happy. Grace did as her dad said and she let Happy lead her to the backseat. After putting on her seat belt, she made sure to keep her gaze on her dad and the woman as they interacted.
"Hi. And you are?" Tony greeted the woman. "I'm on the wheel." He told Happy as the other man opened the passenger door to get in.
"Marshal." The woman answered as she managed to shake Tony's hand. For some reason to Grace, the way the woman quickly said her name made it seem as if it weren't her real name. Grace narrowed her eyes.
"Irish, I like it." Tony halfheartedly told her. He too was a bit iffy but he kept his cool attitude going.
The woman kept to the pleasantries. "Pleased to meet you, Tony."
"Where are you from?" Tony asked as he entered the front seat.
"Bedford." The woman quickly answered him.
Tony put on his seat belt. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you." The woman smoothly informed him.
"Yeah?" That really caught Tony's attention. Grace's wariness only doubled. He made sure to keep his demeanor indifferent now. "You found me. What can I do for you?"
"I'm here serving subpoenas." The woman clarified, and Tony cringed. That certainly changed the air into something more serious. She proceeded to hand him a folded paper. That only increased Grace's curiosity as well as her anxiousness with the whole subpoena thing. Without even needing an explanation, she knew that it wasn't a good thing. She also was prepared for her dad's reaction by trying to be handed something by someone.
"Yikes." Tony made a face as he looked at the folded paper. Grace was once again reminded how a piece of paper could hold so much power over someone.
"Yikes, indeed." Grace echoed her dad's reaction. She had a strong feeling Pepper was not going to be happy when she found out about this.
Happy decided to offer an actual verbal explanation. "He doesn't like to be handed things." He told the woman as he reached over to get a hold of the document himself. "I got it."
Tony nodded his head. "Yeah, I have a peeve."
The woman was still smiling at Tony. "You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at nine a.m."
"Can I see the badge?" Tony inquired in order to hide any bother that was there.
"Oh, you want to see the badge?" The woman quirked an eyebrow.
"He likes the badge." Happy added to the casualness Tony was trying to maintain despite the seriousness of the situation.
"I would love to see the badge too." Grace eagerly said. It wasn't everyday that she would get to see a U.S. Marshal badge in person.
The woman's lips turned upwards again as she showed the badge to all of them. "You still like it?" She remarked, her witty comment aimed at only Tony. The older man offered her a tight smile in return.
"It's shiny." Grace casually pointed out. The woman's eyes gleamed with amusement at her childish behavior. She showed her badge one more time before putting it away.
"Don't look at it honey. It'll blind you." Tony jokingly said. He tried to sound like he wasn't the least bit concerned. Grace shook her head at her dad's response. There was one last look exchanged between Tony and the woman before she walked off. "How far away are we from D.C.?" He asked Happy once it was just the three of them.
"D.C.? Two hundred fifty miles." Happy answered as he re-buckled himself.
Tony let out a sigh. He tried pushing down any annoyance he had from receiving such news. "Guess we're going to D.C. Sounds fun. Right, Grace?"
Grace caught her dad's gaze in the rearview mirror. She could tell that her dad wasn't in a good mood. She wanted to somehow make him feel better. So she asked the one question that she hoped would do just that. "Can we get cheeseburgers before we leave?" Much to her relief her dad released a smile.
Tony nodded his head causing Grace to smile. He chuckled and then glanced at Happy. "She's totally my daughter."
Happy nodded his head, agreeing. "One hundred percent, sir."
After that was said, Tony started the car, and off they went.
A/N: Natasha shows up in the next chapter FYI. Or should I say...Natalie. ;P
