Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any other Marvel characters. I only own my OC.

A/N: I know I said I was most likely going to update Floating On Air next but...that clearly didn't end up happening. Sorry about that. I've just been on an endless Marvel movie marathon on Disney+ and because of that I've been more motivated to write Infinite. I enjoyed writing the interactions between Grace and "Natalie", aka Natasha. It will be interesting when Grace learns the truth of who she actually is since how she already likes her.

If you guys don't follow me on Tumblr, I posted that I am interested in bringing the character of Felicia Hardy into this story. If you guys aren't familiar with her character she's actually an adversary of Spider-Man that goes by the name Black Cat. A bit of a backstory on her character, Felicia's father in the comics is a world renowned cat burglar, and Felicia eventually follows in his steps. She hasn't been introduced in the MCU movies and I don't if she ever will. I, however, do want to include her in this story at some point. What I want is for Grace and her to meet, probably sometime during Grace's pre-teen/teen years, before Felicia takes the name Black Cat. I want them to have some type of connection. I know already that their first encounter is going to be on the rocky side because Felicia is most likely going to steal something from Grace. She is aspiring to be like her father after all. They'll come to have an eventual friendship, with of course some feelings thrown in from Felicia's side. Nothing is certain but most likely my face-claim for Felicia Hardy is going to be the actress Ella Balinska. I can totally see her as that character.

Just want to also point out that I don't own any books or the TV show mentioned in this chapter. Dawn Powell was a real female author who didn't get enough attention regarding the books she wrote when she had been alive. Even now her work doesn't get enough recognition.

I want to give a shout out to those who watched the show Total Drama Island on Cartoon Network as a kid. I loved that show growing up. I recently been rewatching the first season on Netflix and the nostalgia hit me hard. If you have no idea what Total Drama Island is it's basically the cartoon version of the show Survivor but more exaggerated.

I also want to say that I love adding scenes with Grace speaking Spanish. I definitely want to add more of those as the story progresses. ^.^

Also, major points to those who are able to tell right away who gave Natalie aka Natasha the scar that is mentioned in this chapter. I just felt like adding an Easter egg or whatever you want to call it.


"Urgency and despair don't get along well."― N.K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate


Chapter 14: A rash decision

Monte-Carlo, Monaco

The thirteen hour flight to Monaco went surprisingly fast for Grace. She couldn't say if her dad or Pepper felt the same way, but for the seven year old the flight went by too fast. During those thirteen hours she had finished her homework assignments, along with her book.

It didn't take long after landing in Monaco for her to come to the conclusion on why the flight went by so fast for her. Surely it had to do with how good the book she read was. One of the reasons why Grace loved reading so much was because it distracted her from real life and it took her into a whole other world. Sometimes the distraction was good, not because she didn't like her life but because it was fun imagining yourself in a different world, in the shoes of whatever character she was reading about.

The book she read during the flight was called The Book Of Three. It was actually the first book of the The Chronicles of Prydain series. The next one she needed to read was The Black Cauldron. Grace intended on reading it but there was another book she wanted to read first. This wasn't a fantasy book but rather a more serious one. It was by the author Dawn Powell and the book was called A Time to Be Born. She found out about the author because Claire had briefly mentioned her before when naming her favorite authors. The name stuck with Grace and she decided to search her up online. A few of Dawn Powell's books popped up but the one that had caught her interest had been A Time To Be Born. From what Grace read online the book's plot took place before World War II, and it was told in a funny but cynical perspective of New Yorkers.

Although it didn't sound like the type of book she would imagine herself in, Grace was still interested in reading it. Not to mention she was intrigued with the writing of Dawn Powell because of how unknown she was compared to other authors that would always pop up when she looked for books online. When Grace had told her dad about the next book she wanted to read he gave her the most perplexed look he could muster because he had no idea who Dawn Powell was. His reaction only made Grace more determined to read her work because that meant she would be giving attention to a book an author wrote that sadly didn't get as much attention as others.

When it came to books, Grace wanted to give authors a chance. If she didn't like a book they wrote then fine, but she needed to read it first. Hopefully she would come to like Dawn Powell's book of A Time to Be Born.

Now other than completing her homework assignments, along with finishing her book, Grace also managed to watch two episodes of the TV show Total Drama Island on the TV the plane had. It was a Cartoon Network TV show that she sometimes watched at home. Although the seven year old had already seen all of the show's episodes, she had no problem with rewatching them again.

Besides the ones that were playing on the plane included the Paintball Deer Hunter episode and the Hook, Line, and Screamer episode. The episodes were out of order but it didn't matter to Grace because those two episodes were her favorites. She would have kept watching but by the end of the Hook, Line, and Screamer episode, Grace had finally succumbed to sleep.

It wasn't until her dad gently woke her up from her peaceful slumber that she realized she had fully knocked out. Whatever sleepiness that remained after waking up, instantly disappeared when her dad and Pepper told her they were landing in Monaco. That had Grace straightening up in her seat, ready to exit the plane to see Monaco with her own eyes.

Which she did after the plane landed but not in the way Grace wanted. Unfortunately none of them were able to explore Monaco as freely as they wanted to just yet. Happy, who was also with them, drove them to the hotel they were staying at in order to rest up a bit before needing to get ready for the main event they were going to attend.

Now they were pulling up to the Hotel de Paris where the event would be taking place. During the plane ride her dad had explained what the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco was all about. The young Stark came to learn that the event was about automobile races. Her dad had his own team of people racing, and essentially they were there to support Team Stark. Grace was already in a great mood, being excited and all, but it seemed to double when she got out of the car Happy was driving them in and saw that her dad's team were wearing blue racing suits. One of her favorite colors happened to be blue.

Grace was in such high spirits that the large crowd that was in front of the hotel wasn't making her nervous. She managed to give the crowd a wave after she saw her dad give out a peace sign. The crowd seemed to eat that up because they began cheering louder. Before the cheering could escalate even more, Tony took hold of Grace's hand, leading her inside the hotel.

Pepper and Happy were behind them, with Happy holding onto a silver briefcase that belonged to Tony. The billionaire had no problem with Happy carrying it for him. He trusted him completely.

From the moment they stepped inside, Grace could tell just how fancy this event was going to be. Everybody inside was dressed up but Grace was already expecting that based on how she was dressed.

Grace was wearing a purple flowy dress that went below her knees. The dress had a sparkly belt that went around her waist. The sparkly belt matched perfectly with the silver ballet flats she was wearing. Pepper ended up doing her hair in a side french braid. The redhead thought Grace would look nice with that hairstyle since she had the length for it.

Grace didn't have any issues with Pepper doing her hair. After all this wasn't the first time she'd done her hair for an event. Grace always agreed because it made her think about her mom, and how she used to be the one to do her hair. Pepper, however, had never done a side french braid on her before but unknown to the young girl it was a hairstyle Pepper was familiar with. She gave Grace a mirror once she was done with her hair, and she was filled with joy when she saw a smile break out on the young girl's face. Grace did indeed like the side french braid. Her smile, along with the 'thank you' and hug she gave Pepper had the redhead smiling as well.

Pepper was wearing a slightly off the shoulder dark dress with polka-dots. Her shoes of course were heels that matched the dress she was wearing. Her hair was up in a high stylish ponytail, and her makeup, although on the simple side, made her already natural rosy cheeks, and light green eyes pop out more than usual.

Her dad was of course wearing one of the many fancy suits he one he had at the moment just happened to be grey with a light blue undershirt. He even had on a light patterned tie to go along with his attire.

Grace was still admiring the hotel when she felt her dad give her hand a gentle squeeze. That had her looking his way and she was surprised by the way he was fidgeting with his sunglasses.

"You know, it's Europe." Tony finally spoke, his comment clearly aimed at Pepper. The redhead was now on Grace's left side and Tony on Grace's right side. Happy had lingered back with Tony's briefcase. The group of three were making their way inside to what appeared to be the dining room. When Pepper glanced Tony's way he quickly tucked his sunglasses into the front of his suit. "Whatever happens in the next twenty minutes, just go with it."

Pepper once again spared him a look, frowning. She was confused by what he meant. They had just arrived at the event and what he said had come from out of nowhere. Even Grace, who was between them, was looking at her dad with a puzzled expression. "Go with it? Go with what?" The redhead asked him. She made sure to keep her voice low now that they were surrounded by more people.

Grace had planned on watching them but her attention was soon caught elsewhere. She couldn't help the smile that escaped her, let alone the happy gasp she released when she saw a very familiar person.

"Natalie!" The young Stark girl saw the dark red haired woman all dressed up in a pink dress. Grace thought the dress looked really nice on her. She waved at her and it was after the woman returned the wave with her own smile that Grace looked at her dad. She no longer looked as puzzled as before. "Dad, you invited Natalie here." It definitely sounded more like a statement than a question.

Pepper though still wanted confirmation from Tony. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, Tony...did you?"

Tony let out a chuckle, and was thankfully interrupted before answering by Natalie who had made her way over to them. "Mr. Stark." She greeted with a polite smile. "How was your flight?"

"It was excellent." Tony quickly answered her as he did his best to avoid the stare down Pepper was currently giving him.

"Hi, Natalie." Grace greeted her again, more properly this time.

Natalie's smile remained as she turned her attention to the seven year old. "Hello, Grace."

"I'm glad you're here." Grace rapidly blurted out. There was a pause before she let out a sheepish giggle. "Sorry." She apologized for how fast she had just sounded. She took a deep breath, calming herself down from the excitement of it all. "It's nice to see you again."

Her smile wanted to widen from hearing Grace's excitement, and her apologizing afterwards was adorable. "It's nice to see you again too." Natalie returned the sentiment, and even through the amusement, she was highly aware that Pepper still hadn't said anything to her. No, the light redhead was clearly trying to keep her cool with Tony. The dark red haired woman wasn't thrown off by that. It was actually expected.

When a waiter walked by with a tray that had what Tony hoped was hard liquor, he quickly took one. "Boy, it's good to see you." He gave no further details on whether he was referring to the drink or Natalie. He did, however, close his eyes briefly when he took a sip from the drink. Thankfully for him the drink did have a kick to it.

"We have a photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind." Natalie informed him. She then swiftly gestured over her shoulder for a man, who by the looks of it had been waiting for her signal, camera raised and ready to be used.

Tony hummed and Natalie took that as a yes. She carefully set Tony's drink back onto the tray. The waiter made his exit as Tony, Pepper, and Grace looked at the photographer. Grace, already preparing herself with getting her photo taken, was already smiling. It was as genuine as it could get when dealing with the press. Her smile was way more convincing than Pepper's as the redhead was quietly speaking to Tony during the quick photo session.

"When did this happen?"

Tony kept his gaze on the camera when he answered her. "You made me do it." He answered with a tight smile.

That almost had Pepper rolling her eyes. Almost. "I made you do what?" She harshly whispered through her smile.

"You quit." Tony whispered to her and he was glad Grace was momentarily more focused with the flashing camera than the discussion he was discreetly having with Pepper. "Smile. Look right there." He forced out a laugh. "Stop acting constipated. Don't flare your nostrils."

"You are so predictable. That's the amazing thing." Pepper finally sighed when the photographer finished with his shots. He managed to get one shot of just Grace smiling before taking off. Grace blinked a few times from that unexpected shot but did well in following her dad and Pepper, who were being led by Natalie. The light redhead lingered back to get a drink that she needed, as Tony caught up next to Natalie. Grace by that point once again was holding his hand.

"You look fantastic." Tony casually complimented the dark redhead.

"You look very pretty, like a Disney princess." Grace added and she felt her cheeks grow warm from having said that. "Because your h-h-hair is red...like the Little Mermaid."

Tony got a bemused look from hearing his daughter say that. He knew that Grace wasn't that into Disney princesses but there she was saying Natalie was like the Little Mermaid. It was a little weird but when it came down to it, Grace was a weird child...and he meant that in the nicest way possible. It was what made her endearing, and he loved that about his daughter.

Grace's embarrassment went away when she saw Natalie give her a smile. "That's very kind of you to say, Grace. I think you look very pretty too in that dress of yours. Your hair is styled nicely too."

"Pepper did it for me." Grace told her brightly. She touched the end of her side french braid without messing it up.

"Well, she did a good job." Natalie genuinely answered her.

"Yes, she did." Tony agreed before looking at Natalie again. He put on his sunglasses only for him to take them off shorting after putting them on. "But what we said was unprofessional." He nonchalantly told the dark red haired woman about their compliments. "What's on the docket?"

"You have a nine-thirty dinner." Natalie answered simply, not at all thrown off by his change of conversation. She could tell that he hadn't been serious.

"Perfect. I'll be there at eleven." Tony answered halfheartedly. Grace wanted to giggle because she already knew how her dad was when it came to meetings, especially when done over dinner. He liked to avoid them, or tried to shorten them as much as possible. Grace expected Natalie to frown at her dad's answer but she was surprised and delighted, when she saw a smile on the older woman's face.

"Absolutely."

Tony came to brief halt with Grace when he pointed to a corner table next to a large window. "Is this us?"

Natalie looked at the corner table and then at Tony. "It can be."

Tony looked down at his daughter who was still holding onto his hand. "Grace, do you want to sit here? I know you like views and the window is large here."

Grace struggled with her answer. "I mean...I would like to, but only if nobody else is going to sit there."

Tony quickly brushed that off. "Don't worry about that." He looked at Natalie to give her a nod and that was all Natalie needed to start talking to the waiter. As this occurred, Pepper had come over and was talking to a man wearing a white suit jacket. Tony began walking over to them to join the conversation.

Although she held onto her dad's hand, Grace didn't really pay attention to their conversation. The only thing that stuck with her about the man Pepper and her dad were talking to was his name, which was Mr. Musk. The seven year old was more interested in watching Natalie who was talking to the waiter about the corner table. At first the waiter looked upset. But then Grace saw the way Natalie softened her expression only to say something to the waiter, and that miraculously had the waiter smiling. That impressed Grace. One second the waiter was giving Natalie a mean look and then the next second she had him smiling like he had never been upset in the first place.

Evidently Natalie had a way with words, and Grace thought that was cool.

Her attention went away from Natalie when her dad began walking away, gently taking her with him. Grace looked forward again as Pepper, her dad, and her began walking further into the hotel's dining room.

"Is Natalie your new assistant?" Grace asked despite already knowing the answer. It was obvious with the way he had been talking to the dark red haired woman that she was working for him now. She still asked out of politeness.

Tony gave her hand another squeeze before nodding his head. "Yeah, she is. What do you think about that?"

Grace's answer was fast and it had her smiling brightly. "I think it's cool! I like Natalie."

"I had a feeling you did." Tony replied, giving Pepper a look that said 'see, she's okay with it' but a tight, clearly forced smile remained on Pepper's face. She was still far from being happy with him. "You want a massage?" He asked Pepper as a way to lighten things up.

Pepper let out an exasperated sigh. "No, I don't want a massage."

"I can have Natalie call someone." Tony let her know. He was doing this out of playfulness and that only added to Pepper's annoyance. "I'm fine. I don't need Natalie to do anything."

"Are you mad at Natalie?" Grace chimed in as she finally let go of her dad's hand. Her expression was one of puzzlement. What could Natalie have done to Pepper? She just got hired.

Pepper softened her face at Grace's question. "No, sweetie. It's not Natalie who I'm mad at." She stressed out that last sentence, looking straight at Tony.

By now the three of them were near the bar the dining room had. Grace was now between the two adults. Pepper had set aside her drink on the counter as Tony took a casual stance. Grace looked at each of them like a tennis match, waiting to see what either her dad or Pepper would say next. Not surprised it was her dad who spoke. Grace listened closely, wanting to know why exactly Pepper was mad at her dad.

"By the way, I didn't mean to spring this on you." Tony said and that had Grace shaking her head at him. She now understood why Pepper was upset. Her dad had hired Natalie without telling her. Grace had no issues with Natalie, and she was happy that she was her dad's new assistant. But she could understand Pepper being upset...Natalie was replacing her in a way. Grace wanted Pepper to know that even though she liked Natalie, and that even though Pepper was now CEO of Stark Industries, that she would forever be number one in her mind.

Grace gently tapped Pepper's hand. She smiled when the light redhead looked down at her. "You'll always be the best Pepper. No need to worry about Natalie replacing you. Even though I think she's cool and pretty, you're still my number one."

That instantly had Pepper feeling better. Grace's kind words had her smiling. She was about to reply back but Tony beat her to it with a large grin.

"See, no reason for you to be so green." Tony told her before shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, green is not your best color." He sounded nonchalant but on the inside he was glad Grace had said those kind words to Pepper. It had Pepper smiling again and he liked it when she smiled. The moment was then ruined and it had Tony's grin faltering.

"Anthony? Is that you?" A voice called out. Suddenly the man Grace had seen on TV with her dad when in D.C. appeared next to them. It was Justin Hammer. A frown was already growing on Grace's face having heard him say her dad's full name. It only wanted to deepen when he looked at her. He was smiling but Grace could immediately tell that his smile wasn't at all genuine. "And your daughter is here too. Hello, Grace. Nice to finally meet you."

No matter how rude it appeared, Grace didn't say anything to him. She didn't even return the smile. She just nodded her head at him. Tony brought her closer to him by putting his arm around her shoulders. "My least favorite person on earth..." He said, causing a smile to finally escape Grace. "Justin Hammer!" He exclaimed, turning to look at him when Hammer tapped him on the shoulder.

"How are you doing? You're not the only rich guy here with a fancy car." Hammer laughed, giving Tony a pat on the shoulder. Tony right away discreetly moved himself from Hammer. Grace saw the interaction and couldn't help but comment on it.

"But my dad has better style." Grace quietly said.

Tony grinned at his daughter having heard her. Even Pepper was smiling a small smile from what she said.

If Justin Hammer had heard Grace say that, then his reaction sure didn't show any irritation. His attention was still on her dad, an obvious fake smile still plastered on his face. "You know Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair. You guys know each other?" He finished saying as he pointed behind him.

Grace immediately recognized the blonde in the turquoise dress that now stood next to Hammer. She saw the way her dad mildly shook his head from obvious annoyance. Pepper was doing a better job at controlling her displeasure from seeing the blonde woman again.

Christine right away felt the tension but she just smiled through it. "Hi."

"Hi, yes we do." Pepper returned the greeting, being more social than Tony at the moment.

Tony's response finally came out only after seeing Grace give him an encouraging smile. He turned to look at Christine with an unreadable expression at first. "Yes, roughly."

It was then after he said this that Grace decided to catch the blonde's attention...and she knew exactly how.

"Do you have any gum?" Grace innocently asked her.

From beside her, Tony had to stifle his laugh. He already knew exactly where his daughter was going with this. Pepper had told him a while ago what Grace had done to one of Christine's shoes. Although he never brought it up to his daughter, Tony was indeed very amused by what she had done. Maybe it wasn't proper to silently encourage that sort of behavior, but this was Christine Everhart. A gum in her shoe wasn't going to cause her any real harm...just some humiliation. He could live with that.

Christine was thrown off by the young girl's question. Her bright smile faltered. "Uh, no."

Grace shrugged her shoulders, enjoying her puzzlement. The blonde still had no idea it had been her who put gum in her shoe. Good, Grace thought. Christine's soon to be reaction from what she would say next would be fun to watch.

"That sucks." Grace let out a fake disappointed sigh. "Sometimes you find gum in the most randomest places. A sock drawer, a forgotten pocket in the inside of a purse...a shoe."

"A shoe?" That made Christine frown. "I don't" Her eyes then widened, remembering the gum incident that happened a while ago. She stared at the young Stark girl with a now narrowed look but said nothing else. What exactly was she supposed to say to that? Say you're sorry for putting gum in my shoe, or else I'll tell your dad? That would just cause a scene and she already knew that Tony Stark wouldn't exactly lecture his own daughter for putting gum in someone's shoe. Let alone when the shoe belonged to someone he clearly did not like. From the way Grace was smiling at her she knew Christine couldn't do anything about it. That just added to the blonde's annoyance.

That little―

Before Christine was able to finish that thought, Hammer of course took control of the conversation. He pointed to Pepper.

"BTW, big story. The new CEO of Stark Industries! Congratulations!"

Christine did her best to not sound bothered from having realized the whole gum in the shoe thing had been because of Grace. A smile once again appeared on her face. "I know. I know. My editor would kill me if I don't grab a quote for our next Powerful Women issue." She told Pepper. "Can I?"

Pepper sighed but reluctantly nodded her head. "Sure." She knew a straight out rejection would just look bad on her part. She, however, still remembered the encounter she had with Christine the morning after the blonde had spent the night with Tony. The only thing that was making this easier for her was that Grace brought up the gum incident. That certainly was amusing, especially when seeing Christine's reaction.

"She's actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair." Hammer bragged with a huge grin. "I thought I'd throw her a bone, you know."

"You're a saint." Grace sarcastically stated and Tony had to cover his laugh with a cough. This time it was obvious that Hammer heard the seven year old by the way he turned his head to look at her. His eyes behind his glasses were narrowed but he said nothing else.

"Right." Pepper said, dragging his attention away from the young Stark. She had to keep her own laughter from escaping. Grace's comment was totally something Tony would have said. Without needing to, Grace was once again proving that she really was Tony's daughter. If looks weren't enough evidence for the dimwits out there that still denied such a thing, then the sarcasm Grace displayed was enough for them to realize the relation. Justin Hammer, much to Tony and Pepper's amusement, was a witness to her sarcasm. "Well, she did quite a spread on Tony last year." The redhead threw a pointed look at Christine, and although she wasn't frowning, her eyes still made Christine avert her own gaze.

Tony couldn't help but add his own comment seeing how Pepper was getting to the blonde. That was one of the many things he liked about Pepper. She knew how to stand up for herself without the dramatics. It was quite the contrast because he himself lived for the dramatics. "And she wrote a story as well."

"It was very impressive." Pepper flatly said as Tony nodded his head. "Very well done." She added before she pointed elsewhere. "Well, I'm gonna..."

Tony's eyes widened. "Don't leave me." He muttered but Pepper didn't spare him a look. She instead looked at Grace. "Do you want to tag along, Grace?"

Grace looked at Pepper then at her dad. "No, that's okay. I'll stay with my dad. You know...in case I need to save him." She joked but in a way she also meant what she said. Especially when it came to Justin Hammer and Christine Everhart. Tony gave her shoulder a squeeze, appreciating her staying with him. This time Pepper did spare him a look before she walked off. It relieved Tony that there hadn't been any real annoyance on her face.

"Hey, buddy, how you doing?" Hammer asked, sliding his arm around Tony's shoulders. This made Tony lose the hold he had on Grace, which in return had Grace practically glaring at Hammer. "So, your daughter's here to save you, huh?" Hammer joked and Tony right away wanted to throw his arm off. He knew doing that would look really bad, and there were cameras everywhere. He needed to be subtle, well, Tony Stark subtle when it came to his dislike.

"She sure is." Tony replied, giving him a tight smile. "And I'm sure she can whip your butt."

"I sure can." Grace added in her most serious voice. That had Tony looking at her with a proud smile. Hammer on the other hand wasn't as amused. He, however, kept going with his lighthearted act.

"Oh, she's a kidder. Just like you Anthony!"

Stop calling my dad Anthony, Grace thought angrily. She could tell her dad didn't like Hammer using his full name either by the way he clenched his jaw. Before Tony was able to say anything else, Hammer brought him closer to him. He timed it perfectly as a photographer made his way over to them and took their picture. Grace lingered back, and Tony was glad for that.

"Please, this is tough." Tony laughed it off but his annoyance was slipping through.

"It's for the kids. Right, Grace?" Hammer didn't even spare her a look when he said that.

That just made Grace dislike him even more. She gave Hammer a bored expression before she muttered one word. "Idiota." That was just one of the many Spanish insults she knew. Of course there were worse insults out there but Idiota was the first one to come to mind when describing Justin Hammer.

Hammer was already blabbing away again at the photographer that he hadn't heard her. Her dad had heard her comment and he let her know that he did by the glance he gave her. Grace had been able to see his smile. His attention was taken away from her when Hammer said the word Brie as a way to get him to smile at the camera.

The photographer kept taking photos but eventually Tony finally had enough and he pulled away from Hammer. He reached for his sunglasses and put them on. Hammer tried motioning for the photographer to take another photo of him and Tony. It was taken and it had made Tony laugh louder. "Oh, God, that's so awful."

Christine, who had been watching, had taken out her recorder. She raised her voice to catch their attention. "Listen, is this the first time you've seen each other since the Senate?"

"Since he got his contract revoked." Tony briskly answered. He was now walking away, and he was darn sure holding onto Grace's hand. The seven year old gladly followed her dad.

"Actually it's on hold." Hammer tried clarifying as he began following Tony and his daughter towards a table. Christine tagged along as well, still recording the conversation.

Hammer's reply had Tony shaking his head. "That's not what I heard. What's the difference between hold and canceled?"

Grace took a seat next to her dad. They weren't at the corner table he had told Natalie to get for them. So she knew they most likely weren't going to stay there long. Which was good because she no longer wanted to be near either Justin Hammer or Christine Everhart.

Christine jumped at the question. She turned to Hammer. "Yes, what is?"

Hammer tried discreetly pushing away Christine's recording device. "Why don't we go out that way."

The blonde kept on going as she took a seat at the table. Hammer sighed as he too took a seat. It was the one that was on the left side of Tony's seat. "The truth is, I'm hoping to present something at your expo."

Tony took off his sunglasses. Grace was able to see that her dad was buying what Hammer was saying. "Well, if you invent something that works, I'll make sure I'll get you a slot."

Grace knew that what her dad just said was a burn to Hammer. In her opinion though, it was a burn that was well deserved."

Natalie then appeared next to her dad, and Grace was so happy to see her again.

"Mr. Stark?" Natalie called out and Tony nodded his head.

"Yes?"

"Your corner table is ready." Natalie kindly let him and Grace know.

"I actually have a slot this year. Yes, I do." Hammer tried to quickly tell Christine as Tony and Grace got up to stand.

Tony, who was now following Natalie, still heard him. He looked over his shoulder to throw him a smirk. "Hammer needs a slot, Christine."

Unlike her dad, Grace didn't spare Hammer a look. She instead followed her dad and Natalie to their table. During their walk, Grace tried holding onto her dad's hand again but she was shocked when her dad pulled away from her. She was about to question him when they came to a sudden stop. He stared down to look at her and when he did he saw her sad expression. Tony immediately felt guilty because he had been the one to cause her sad expression. He let out a sigh before he tried giving her a smile.

"Sorry, sweetie. I just need to go to the bathroom real quick."

For some reason his smile didn't sit well with her. It made Grace start to worry. Maybe it had to do with Hammer? It did suck having to talk to him, especially since Christine was there. She decided not to question it. She nodded her head. "Okay, dad."

Tony booped her nose, his smile still not convincing her. "Natalie?" Tony called out for the dark redhead, who had stopped walking when they had.

"Yes, Mr. Stark." Natalie said once she was closer.

"Can you take Grace to our table, please." Tony began telling her. "I need to use the bathroom. Pepper will be there shortly no doubt, so you won't stay along with her for long."

"It's no issue, Mr. Stark." Natalie informed him, not at all bothered. "I'll take her to the table and stay with her as needed."

Tony thanked her and then looked at Grace one last time before he left for the bathroom. Natalie then began walking, expecting for Grace to follow her to their corner table. However, when she looked back at the young girl she saw that she had remained in place. Her attention was on her dad who was walking away from her.

"Grace, are you okay?" Natalie asked once she was next to her again. She saw the frown that was on her face. She heard Grace let out a sigh.

"Yeah, it's just..." She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"What?" Natalie asked her.

Grace looked her right in the eyes. Somehow her green eyes were able to help her find her voice again. "My dad's smile didn't seem honest to me."

Natalie was quiet for a few seconds, thrown off. Grace's response wasn't something she was expecting to hear. Not from a seven year old, anyways. She made sure to keep her voice even when she replied. "Why do you say that?"

Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Just a feeling...but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he's still annoyed with Justin Hammer and Christine Everhart." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't like them."

Natalie was then able to relax and laugh at that. "And I'm sure there's a good reason for that. Now come on." She began leading her to the corner table. Grace this time followed but not before sparing one last look over her shoulder. Her dad was no longer in view which had her turning around again. Grace began fidgeting with her fingers out of nervousness that lingered, and the red dark haired woman took notice.


Fifty-three percent.

Fifty-three goddamn percent was his blood toxicity level now. According to his Stark Medical Scanner anyways, but Tony knew the scanner couldn't be wrong with those results. He made the device after all.

As much as he wanted it to be wrong, it wasn't, and what was happening to him was just getting worse. When Tony had unbuttoned the undershirt he was wearing he saw just how worse his blood toxicity was now. There were dark veins surrounding the arc reactor on his chest, and the skin there was sickly pale. The sight in front of him was far from being good.

Tony released a heavy sigh, lowering his gaze to the sink. His hands were gripping the sink tightly as he closed his eyes.

This wasn't supposed to be happening...and yet it was.

Tony didn't want to admit it but he was scared. Except he wasn't scared for himself. No, he was scared for his daughter. What was happening to him at the moment took him back to when he had been kidnapped, and when he was assumed dead by many. During his kidnapping all Tony thought about was Grace and how distraught she must have been. However, thanks to Yinsen's sacrifice, Tony had been able to get a second chance. But where was that second chance now that his blood toxicity was quickly rising?

He hadn't found a suitable replacement for palladium, and the sad truth was that he probably wouldn't be able to find it anytime soon. He really was a dead man walking. So, yeah...at the moment he was a total mess. Tony's thoughts took a turn and as he now thought about Grace's mother...Louisa.

Had she felt the same way when she had been sick? Had she been scared out of her mind when lying in a hospital bed? After having thought those questions over, Tony wanted to slap himself. Of course Louisa must have been scared. Tony had a feeling though that Louisa had done a good job at not showing Grace her fear. However, from personal experience now, Tony also had a feeling that Louisa was just like him, and was scared more for Grace than for herself.

Louisa had been diagnosed with Leukemia, and although she put up a good fight, she still lost her life in the end. And Grace lost a mother.

The whole thing with getting sick, and going through Chemo, must have been awful for Louisa. Tony still regretted not being there for her and Grace during that troubling time, despite him not even knowing about Louisa's diagnosis, let alone of Grace's existence just yet.

But now here was Tony, with Grace as his daughter, and he was suffering like Louisa had. The only huge difference was that he was dying a whole lot faster than Louisa. His daughter was going to lose him soon. And once he was gone, Grace would officially not only have lost a mother...but a father as well.

With tears in his eyes, Tony lifted his gaze to look at his reflection in the mirror.

"Got any other bad ideas?" He quietly asked himself. The billionaire was glad he was alone in the bathroom because a few tears had fallen down his face. One bad idea quickly came to mind after wiping his tears away. Not only was it a bad idea but it was also plain stupid. His distress was getting to him, and because of that Tony couldn't find it in himself to stop from going through such a bad and stupid idea .


This was now the tenth time that Grace read the menu that had been given to her. She just couldn't decide on what to eat because of how uneasy she felt. The feeling was making her indecisive and it didn't help that dad still hadn't come back from the bathroom. Grace wasn't alone though.

Natalie had stayed with her for a few minutes before Pepper finally sat down next to her. Natalie had excused herself then, and Grace had hoped that her dad would have shown up afterwards but he hadn't.

Grace had no idea what was taking him so long. Did he have a stomachache? Grace sure hoped that wasn't the case. She didn't like thinking of dad in any kind of pain. Plus, having a stomachache sucked.

"Have you finally decided on what you want to eat?" Pepper asked as she was looking at the menu too.

Grace dropped the menu onto the table, releasing a sigh. Right when she was about to reply to Pepper her dad's voice caught her attention. Her eyes widened when she followed the voice and saw that it was coming from the big TV that was in the dining room. The TV showed her dad outside where the racing was taking place. He was wearing the blue racing suit the team Stark drivers were wearing.

Grace frowned, her uneasiness intensified. "Dad never said anything about being in the race." Was this supposed to be some type of surprise? Was that why he was acting weird when he had left for the bathroom? No...Grace had a feeling that wasn't the reason why. Something still just wasn't sitting well with her.

Hearing Grace say that had Pepper looking at the TV as well. Her own eyes widened when she saw Tony talking animatedly to one of the drivers that was on team Stark. Her panic grew when she saw the original racer walk off, clearly unhappy. Tony really was going to race. What the hell was he thinking? "That's because he's not supposed to."

Pepper began looking around the room until her eyes landed on Natalie. "Natalie!" She called out for the dark red haired woman. It didn't take long for her to come to their table. Tony's new assistant stood all tall and proper, with hands behind her back.

"Yes, Ms. Potts?"

Pepper almost gave her an accusing stare but decided just to question her fairly as she kept her gaze on the TV. "Did you know about this?"

Natalie shook her head, her neat curls following her movement. "No, this is the first I've known of it."

"This can not happen." Pepper stressed out to her.

From hearing how panicked she sounded, Natalie gave her a more serious look. "Absolutely, I understand. How can I help?"

"Where's Happy?" Pepper rapidly asked her.

Natalie's response was quick as well. "He's waiting outside."

At least hearing that Happy was outside made Pepper relax a little bit. "Okay, get him, I need him."

"Right away." Natalie dutifully replied before walking off to find Happy.

"Are you going to try to stop him?" Grace nervously asked Pepper. She had asked this question right when her dad took off into the race. From what was being shown on the TV, he was going really fast. That only made Grace feel more nervous for him. She knew her dad was a good driver, even if Happy drove them most of the time. But the fact that he hadn't told her or Pepper about being in the race made her think that something could happen during his driving. Plus this was a car race, and in her opinion they were nerve-wracking. Accidents happened all the time during them.

Pepper looked at the seven year old next to her. She could see just how uneasy she was from watching Tony race. Wanting to somehow make her feel better, Pepper reached for one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. Just as she was about to answer her question, Grace spoke and what she said had Pepper's eyes widening again.

"Oh, Dios mío." Grace muttered as her worry began to skyrocket to a whole new level. "Who's that man?" Pepper and her, along with everyone that was watching the TV in the dining room, saw a dark haired man walk right into the ongoing race. He was wearing an orange jacket and pants. Adding to the shock everyone else was feeling, the man quickly took off his orange jacket to reveal a large looking arc reactor right in the middle of his chest. It looked like the one her dad had.

That made a ton of questions appear in Grace's head. The main question being...how? Followed by why? Grace let out gasp and it had Pepper giving her another hand squeeze. Her reaction was valid because the man on the TV was now sporting these two long electric whip looking things on each of his arms. They were connected to the arc reactor he had and that's what was powering them. The electric whips looked menacing and from the sparks that were flying off of them she knew they could do some serious damage. And based on the way the man was holding himself, his stance stiff, expression unreadable, Grace knew he was up to no good. He was also in the middle of a race track! A race track that her dad was driving around in!

What was shown next on the TV had everyone crying out. A red race car came toward the man and instead of moving out of the way, he used one of the electric whips to hit it. That caused the front of the race car to break completely off. The hit also caused the race car to flip over, only making the outside bystanders, and inside bystanders, panic for the driver's life.

Pepper made a move to block the TV from Grace's sight. She did this by hugging her. The seven year old eagerly returned the hug, still shocked from what she had seen with the car flipping over. She hoped that the person who had been driving was somehow okay.

As Pepper continued hugging Grace, she was able to spot out Happy who was by the doorway. He was holding the silver briefcase that had Tony's suit, and he was using his free hand to signal her that they had to go now.

As much as it pained her, Pepper had to let go of Grace. She looked around the dining room and quickly caught sight of Natalie again. Pepper called out her name and the dark red haired woman was next to her within seconds.

"Natalie, please stay with Grace." Pepper told her before she was even able to speak. She didn't have to say anything else because she saw a nod.

"Yes, of course." The dark red haired woman right away agreed.

Grace's heart began racing. She felt her eyes getting watery. "Pepper wait!" She cried out when she began walking away. Pepper heard her distress and she knew she couldn't flat out leave without saying something to her. She had to make it fast though. The man on the TV was still causing major damage, and Tony was out there.

Pepper walked over to where Grace was at and took both of her hands. "Grace, I have to give the briefcase to your dad and Happy needs to take me to him." She began telling her, voice soft but serious. "It has his Iron Man suit, Grace. He needs it. I need you to stay here with Natalie. But I'll be back with Happy, okay? And so will your dad."

Grace had to be brave again like with the whole Obadiah incident, and being brave meant not crying. Yet a few tears escaped her. Even with tears running down her cheeks, Grace managed to nod her head. Pepper was right...she needed to go with Happy to give her dad his Iron Man suit. Otherwise this bad man was going to hurt people...or kill them. Or even worse...the bad man could end up hurting her dad or...no, Grace didn't want to finish that last thought.

"Okay." Grace quietly told Pepper.

The redhead mustered up a smile for her. She gave Grace a kiss on the forehead, wiped a few of her tears, and then took off towards Happy. Grace didn't stop staring at her retreating figure until Happy and she exited the dining room.

A soft hand on her shoulder had Grace looking upwards. There she saw Natalie give her a soft expression. "Sit next to me Grace." She had her moving from her seat in order to face away from the TV. "Don't look at the TV." The older woman didn't want the seven year old to feel any more anxiousness from watching what was happening. If she could prevent Grace from seeing something awful happen to her dad (which she hoped wouldn't happen) then she would do that.

Grace at first wanted to protest. Although what had happened with the previous race car was awful to see, Grace still wanted to know what was going on. Her dad was out there with that crazy dangerous man! She had to know but every time she tried to look at the TV Natalie had her turning her way again. She wasn't aggressive about it, in fact she was rather gentle. She was just persistent in having her watch her instead.

Grace didn't know it at the moment but later on in her life she would end up looking back to this moment and find the amusement in it. However, there was no amusement at the moment. Only extreme worry and Grace's tears proved that. Natalie though remained patient with her.

"Talk to me Grace."

Grace looked at her, muddled. "What?"

Natalie nodded her head, as if telling her what she had just said was real. "Talk to me. It'll help with calming you down."

Talk to her? What could she possibly say to her at this moment? She was too busy worrying over her dad! Oh God her dad. She knew that he wouldn't want her to be panicking...right? No, he wouldn't. She had to put faith in him that he'd be okay. That Pepper and Happy would get him his suit on time. They just had to. With that in mind, along with not wanting to appear like a big baby, Grace decided to do as Natalie said.

"I-I-I have my dad's birthday gift at home." Grace stammered out. She saw Natalie give her a small smile, encouraging her to go on.

"What'd you get him?"

"It's actually something I made for him." Grace clarified in a steadier voice now. Thinking about the gift she had made for her dad was calming her down a bit. "It's a miniature car clock. I had trouble building miniature cars before but this time I didn't give up. I read the instructions from the book I have over and over again until I got it right." A sheepish expression almost appeared but she did well in setting it aside. "It took forever to build but it came out good. Pepper did help me put in the clock part, but I built and painted it myself."

"What color did you paint it?" Natalie then asked, glad that Grace was able to focus on the conversation.

"I painted it using two different colors. Red and gold because those are my dad's favorite colors." Grace's lips slightly tugged upwards. "It also matches his Iron Man suit." She saw Natalie nod her head.

"That does sound like a very nice gift. I'm sure he'll like it when you give it to him."

Loud gasps coming from the people around them had Grace jumping in her seat. She started turning her head to look at the TV again, nervous but curious to see what had them gasping like that. Before her eyes could land on the TV, Natalie had gently taken hold of her chin to redirect her gaze onto her again. Grace could see the persistence in those green eyes of hers.

"Keep talking to me, Grace." Natalie orderly softly before lowering her hand.

"I have a scar from my Appendectomy." Grace randomly shared with her. She tried keeping her voice steady with what she continued talking. "It's not a big scar but it's there. I've been told it'll fade away."

"That sounds about right." Natalie lightly added into the conversation. In truth the dark redhead knew her fair share (well, more than her fair share) of knowledge when it came to scars, and whether they would fade away with time, or stay forever.

Grace lowered her eyes to the table before reconnecting with Natalie's green eyes. "Do you have any scars?" She timidly asked her.

The older woman tensed up a bit. Despite her cover, Grace's question had her thinking about a certain mission. A certain mission she hadn't been able to pull off. She had one scar in particular that currently stood out the most...and it was from a gunshot. It still felt like she had received it just yesterday. That's how much of an impact the scar from the gunshot left her...or rather the person who had given it to her. Every time she saw the scar now she thought about that person and how hadn't been able to find him. She kept her voice steady when she answered Grace's question. "I guess you can say that I do."

"Like from surgery?" Grace gently questioned her. Again there were more gasps coming from the people in the dining room, but Grace this time didn't try to turn towards the TV. She maintained eye contact with Natalie.

The dark red haired woman managed to give Grace a small smile. "Sure." On the inside she was far from wanting to smile. Grace was a kid, and there was a certain demeanor she needed to maintain when around the seven year old. Her cover couldn't be blown just yet. Natalie, as she had taken up the name for the time being, needed to keep Grace's trust. She could tell Pepper was still unhappy about Tony hiring her, and Tony was being irresponsible at the moment, as just shown. It appeared that Grace, out of the two adults she was ordered to be around, was the one she needed to make sure would be on her side. Thankfully luck was on her side because Grace seemed to like her well enough.

Much to her satisfaction the conversation hadn't lingered on scars or surgeries. It also didn't go back to Grace trying to turn to look at the TV every minute or so. They were able to keep the conversation going without any struggle. It almost felt weird by how easy it was to talk to Grace, even at her age of seven. Although she didn't think negatively about kids in general, she had to admit that they weren't always the easiest to be around.

Grace though wasn't a difficult child. Maybe she was a little stubborn with wanting to watch what was going on but she wasn't demanding. And once she had gotten her to start talking to her it basically went smoothing sailing from there. She could still see the worry in her dark brown eyes but she was doing a very good job at keeping calm. Plus there were no more tears.

The conversation finally came to an end when Natalie saw the outcome of the fight that had been going on between Iron Man and the man who had interrupted the race. The same fight she did well in helping distract Grace from watching. Thankfully it had been Tony who won.

"You can look now." Natalie softly told her.

Grace didn't need to be told twice. She turned to look at the TV and she let out a breath of relief at what she saw. Her dad, who was now wearing his Iron Man suit, was standing and holding the bad man's arc reactor. The bad man himself was on the ground and he appeared to have been beaten by her dad. Grace was more than glad for that. The people in the dining room were already beginning to applaud and it only got louder when armed guards began to drag the bad man away. Grace didn't applaud though, no matter how relieved she felt to see that her dad hadn't gotten hurt. She didn't even applaud when the TV showed her dad crushing the bad man's arc reactor.

Grace instead remained silent until she turned away from the TV. "He's okay." She stated, and despite seeing that her dad was okay, the worry from before remained.

"Yes, your dad's okay." Natalie confirmed.

"He's okay...he's okay." Grace kept repeating before her voice took a more serious tone. "He's okay now but something isn't okay with him. Something's going on." She looked at Natalie now but the older woman said nothing to her.

Instead the dark red haired woman offered her a comforting smile. It seemed to work because Grace's features softened somewhat. The worry did remain in Grace's dark brown eyes but she did her best to remain caring and supportive. Not that it was a challenge for her. It was actually easy because Grace had been a pleasant person to be around.

Although the recently hired personal assistant of Tony Stark appeared calm on the outside, her thoughts were more on the serious side. Mainly they were about the seven year old she was sitting next to and how impressed she was by her.

She was impressed because of how perceptive Grace was at such a young age. Those perception skills were similar to the ones she had seen before from her own childhood with what she went through in the Red Room. Not that Grace in any way shared her childhood, thankfully. The older woman wouldn't wish that on any child.

Grace, whether she wanted it or not, had the skill of perception. She had perception without needing to be extensively trained on it, like she was. Even with having that skill, the seven year old still hadn't figured out her cover yet. That wasn't a total shock, she was still a kid, and Natalie, as she was currently being called, was a professional when it came to blending in. She'd done this sort of thing countless times by now.

The wonderment she had for the younger girl remained. Even at seven years old, she had to admit she was in awe of Grace Stark. When it came to her dad, the dark brown eyed girl had been able to tell from just one look alone that something wasn't right with him...and she was correct about that. Something wasn't right with him.

Except as much as she didn't like to see Grace in such a worried state, the orders given to Natalie prevented her from saying anything to the young girl. Soon enough, however, the truth would be revealed and Grace would know what was really happening to her dad.

The dark red haired woman could only hope that by then, Tony would have finally figured out something. If not for his sake, then for his daughter's sake. Although she hadn't been with the Starks long, she already could tell how much they both meant to each other. How much they both needed each other.

Grace was just a kid, so of course she needed her father more. And from the file information that was given to her, she knew that Grace already lost one parent. Losing the remaining one she had left would only devastate her...and Natalie who (despite never saying it aloud) had a soft spot for kids, hoped that no more heartache would be bestowed on Grace Rose Stark.