Hello! I'm back! I'm so sorry for disappearing for such a long time. A lot of life has happened recently, and I haven't gotten around to writing this story until recently! I hope you are all still interested! The next couple portions of the story will follow the events of Iron man.
.
.
.
Previously on Iron Star:
Dani didn't know what to expect for the future. She was 9 and had already come close to losing her dad twice. In the same year. How was she supposed to process and deal with all of that? How was she supposed to accept the path that her dad was most likely set on? Having their dad as a hero seemed to be every kid's dream. But none of them knew the paralyzing fear that would settle into their gut as they realized that being a hero meant sacrificing one's life for the good of others. It meant taking the chance of not being able to come home.
And that terrified Dani.
. . .
2010
We are coming to you live from the kickoff of the Stark Expo, where Tony Stark has just walked off stage. Don't worry if you couldn't make it down here tonight, because this expo goes on all year long. And I'm going to be here checking out all the attractions, and the pavilions, and the inventions from all around the world. So make sure you join me-
"Dani!"
Jarvis shut the TV off and switched her bedroom lights off, and Dani quickly curled onto her side in order to feign sleep.
She heard her dad enter her room, and seconds later her light switched on.
"This isn't your best faking performance."
She kept her eyes closed, but failed to stop her mouth from twitching slightly.
"I know you can hear me."
She felt her dad come closer to her bed, but stubbornly kept her eyes closed, drawing his reaction out as long as possible.
"Alright. I guess you give me no choice." There was a brief moment, where Dani suddenly realized what was about to happen, before her dad was tickling her stomach.
"Stop!" She shrieked, unable to stop the laughter from escaping her mouth.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" He asked, continuing to tickle her.
"Stop it!" She tried to squirm away. "Stop, please!"
He finally pulled his hands away, chuckling lightly. "For once it's a good thing that you're up this late. I need you to pack a small bag and come downstairs. Can you do that?"
Dani sat up, giving her dad a frown of confusion. "Pack a bag? Where are we going?"
"D. C. I've been summoned to appear before an Armed Service Committee."
"That sounds pretty big."
"It does, doesn't it? The meeting's at 9, so we have to leave tonight. Can you pack your bag and be downstairs in five minutes?"
Dani nodded, and climbed out of her bed. "How long are we going to be there?"
"I think just tomorrow. Bring clothes for two days just in case, though."
"Okay."
"Five minutes," her dad said, before leaving her room.
Dani grabbed her backpack from the closet, and began to pack the clothes she thought would be necessary for the impromptu trip. She'd never been to D. C. before. She wondered mildly if she would be able to see any of the monuments she had been learning about in her studies.
"Ready?" Her dad asked, when she made an appearance in the living room.
She nodded, and adjusted the straps of her bag on her shoulders. "Yep."
"Alright, let's get this ridiculous show on the road."
Happy drove them to the landing pad, where Pepper met up with them.
"You are going straight to bed, missy," her dad said, the second they were settled and the jet was in the air.
"Dad-"
"Nuh uh. No arguing. Come on. It's night time and we sleep at night time."
"Since when?"
"Since now." He scooped her up, flung her over his shoulder, and carried her to the back of the jet, where a small bed was set up.
She giggled as he dropped her onto the bed.
"At least try to sleep, alright?"
Dani nodded, and scooted herself underneath the blankets. "I'll try," she murmured.
She would try to sleep, but she knew herself better than that. She could count on one hand the number of nights that she had been able to sleep peacefully since her dad was taken in Afghanistan. Nightmares plagued her, stealing the hours of sleep that she should have been enjoying.
"Good." He bent down and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be up front if you need anything." He left, pulling a curtain around the bed to darken the space.
"Jarvis?"
"I'm here, Dani."
"Will you play my nighttime sounds?"
"Right away, miss."
A few seconds passed before the sound of the ocean filled the small space.
Dani curled onto her side, and closed her eyes, willing a peaceful sleep to come.
. . .
Dani wasn't allowed to go to the hearing in front of the Senate, so she spent the day at the hotel, content to float in the private pool and eat as many hamburgers as she wanted to.
"How's the water?"
Dani lifted her head from the tube she was currently floating in, to see her dad approach the pool. "Pretty good. How was the hearing?"
He shrugged, and sat down on a chair. "Pretty good. Annoying, but I made it clear how things are going to be."
"How are things going to be?"
"The government isn't going to get their hands on the suit."
She nodded, and kicked her way over to the side of the pool. "Why do they want it?"
"Because they want to have control over it. But that's never going to happen." He dipped his hand in the water, and splashed her.
"Hey!" She giggled, and splashed him.
Moments later they were involved in a water fight, until her dad tripped and fell into the pool.
"Alright, alright," he said through his laughter, sending another splash her way. "We've got to dry off and get to the jet. I want to get home."
"Are you sure we can't stay in D. C. just a while longer?"
"I am. I've got projects I need to work on. You've got projects to do as well. We'll come back another time, alright? When there's less press around me."
Dani snorted. "I kind of doubt that day will ever come."
"You never know. Maybe the world will one day stop caring about me, and we can go about our lives outside of the spotlight. I might be able to even take you to the park," he finished thoughtfully.
"Parks are overrated," Dani remarked. She swam to the side of the pool, and pulled herself out of the water. "We've got our workshop."
Her dad swam to the side, and got out as well. "Yeah. We do, don't we. I promise we'll come back, though. Once things have calmed down a bit."
Dani held her pinkie out to him. "Make it official."
He chuckled softly, and wrapped his pinkie around hers. "There," he said bringing their hands down. "Alright. Go shower and get ready, so that we can be at the jet in an hour."
Dani got to her feet, and hesitated for a second, before giving her dad a shove and pushing him into the water. She then took off running to the glass sliding door and scrambled into the hotel room. She could hear her dad laughing, but didn't allow herself to stop and look back at him. She scrambled to the bathroom, and quickly slammed the door shut.
She was a couple minutes into her shower, when a cup of cold water was suddenly dumped over the shower curtain. She gasped as the water hit her, sending shivers throughout her. "Dad!"
She heard him laugh, followed by the sound of the bathroom door shutting.
Dani turned up the temperature of the water, laughing despite the shock of the cold.
Her dad didn't take her to the park, and she didn't need the park. She didn't need anything that other kids her age had. She had a dad who gave her everything she could ever need and want. A dad who found ways to give her things a hundred times better than a trip to the park.
. . .
A four hour flight later, they were back in Malibu. Back to their routine of Dani spending the morning with Pepper going over her school material, and spending her afternoons in the workshop.
After finishing her reading on Napoleon Dynamite, Dani headed down to the workshop to find something to tinker on.
"Blood Toxicity, 24%," Jarvis suddenly reported.
Dani stopped entering her code to get into the shop, and focused her attention on her dad, who was leaning against a counter, staring at one of the screens.
"It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition. Another core has been depleted."
Dani watched anxiously as her dad lifted his shirt, and removed the arc reactor from his chest. He then pulled out some sort of chip from the reactor that was charred black.
"I have run simulation on every known element and none can serve as a viable replacement for the Palladium core," Jarvis continued, while her dad pulled a new chip from a box and inserted it into the reactor. "You are running out of both time and options."
Her dad replaced the reactor into his chest, and sighed heavily, before lifting his shirt and staring at his chest. Dani couldn't see what he was looking at, but she got the sinking feeling that it wasn't good. Nothing about the situation she was unintentionally witnessing seemed good.
"Unfortunately, the device that's keeping you alive is also killing you."
Dani covered her mouth at the finality of Jarvis's words.
"Miss Stark is at the door, and I believe she heard everything."
"What?" Her dad dropped his shirt, and turned sharply to look at Dani. "Dani!"
She turned and ran from the workshop door, intent on getting as far from the scene and situation as she could. She didn't want to hear about her dad running out of time. She didn't want to know that the reactor was slowly killing him. She couldn't face the idea of something happening to him again.
"Dani, wait!" Her dad called, chasing after her.
She got to her room, and slammed the door shut, before sliding down to the floor and wrapping her arms around her legs.
"Dani, please open the door. Dani..." she heard him sigh, and lean against the door. "You weren't supposed to hear any of that. I'm so sorry you did. Jarvis should have shut up the second you came near the shop."
"Is it true? Is the reactor killing you?"
Her dad sighed again. "Yes."
She closed her eyes, causing tears to leak down her cheeks, and rested her head against the door. "It's not fair."
"Will you please let me in? Please, Dani."
She swallowed thickly, and wiped her cheeks, before getting to her feet and opening her door.
Her dad immediately crossed the threshold, and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Dani."
"Why is this happening?" She asked, her voice muffled.
"I don't know. But I'm trying everything I can to stop it."
"I don't want you to die."
"I know, I know. I don't want to die. You think I want to leave you? That's the last thing I ever want to have happen." He pushed her away gently, and knelt down so that he was eye level with her. "I'm going to figure this out," he assured, wiping away the tears that were leaking down her cheeks. "But until I do, I need you to promise not to tell anyone about it. So no telling Uncle Happy or Rhodes, and definitely no telling Pepper."
"Why?"
"Because I've got to figure out the best way to tell them. This needs to come from me, okay?" He cupped her face, and thumbed away her tears. "Can you do that for me?"
She nodded slowly, her throat constricting as even more emotion built up inside her. "I'm scared."
"I know Peanut. I'm scared too. Hell, I'm terrified. But we'll find a way through this. I promise we will." He pulled her into another hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
"Miss Potts is in the workshop looking for you," Jarvis announced. "She appears to be mildly upset about something. I believe you sold the modern art collection to the Boy Scouts of America."
"Uh oh, I might be in trouble. You wanna run and hide with me?"
Dani tried to laugh, but her heart wasn't in it.
She couldn't think about anything amusing at the moment. The only thing she could dwell on was the fact that her dad was dying. He was actually dying, and he didn't even know how to make it stop.
"Stay up here for a bit, yeah? I'll go talk with Pepper and then come back up in a bit."
"Okay," she replied softly.
He kissed her forehead, before getting to his feet and leaving her room.
Dani slowly walked to her bed, and fell onto it, before grabbing her stuffed ewok and hugging it to her chest. She was back to being 8 years old, and faced with the fact that something bad was happening to her dad. Something that she barely understood and didn't know how to handle.
.
.
.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys liked it, and that you like where I'm going with Dani!