Chapter Eight

It took more than a few hours for the two of them to design a flight stabilizer for Tony's suit. Because the technology was so new, they had to go through several test runs before finding something that worked for the suit. Tony had begun running tests on the first couple of designs with Ada watching from a distance. She was struggling not to laugh as he got his ass handed to him several times while running said tests. The lab caught on fire a few times, and Dummy was the one who usually doused the flames. Her powers could have easily done so, but she knew better than to expose herself now.

Tony didn't make things any easier by pressing the test runs. He was determined to get the suit finished sooner rather than later. With a rising violence in the Middle East, Ada couldn't necessarily blame him. It wasn't entirely surprising that he also wanted revenge on the Nine Rings as well. The people responsible for taking him had caused more than enough trauma, and it wasn't just Tony who suffered from their hands.

The best part of the test runs were the camera recordings. Ada had been busy laughing her ass off while watching Tony struggle to keep the suit from blowing up any other cars in the lab. While she was busy laughing, Pepper finally came down to the lab with a small box wrapped in brown paper and coffee for both of them. The strawberry blond looked at the lab skeptically when she noticed the various pieces scattered here and there, along with the fact that Tony was still trying to release himself from the suit.

"Let's be honest, you've seen me in a worst state," Tony stated after he finally stepped out. He threw Ada a scathing look as she finally caught her breath from laughing so hard. "And you'd think you'd at least have a little more maturity than this."

"Dad, you totally deserve getting your ass kicked," she replied cheekily.

"I do not," he retorted with equal cheekiness.

Pepper nearly rolled her eyes at their banter as she set down the paper box and their coffees with a small warning, "While I adore hearing your arguments, I thought it would be a good idea to inform you that Obadiah is here."

Ada exchanged an anxious look with Tony. Since they decided to keep his suit a secret, talking to Obadiah had been anything but easy. She knew that he was trying to figure out how Tony managed to escape from Afghanistan. Telling him the truth would just mean they had to tell him about the suit as well, and Ada suspected that was a bad call on every part.

"Give us a couple of minutes," Tony replied once he recovered from his initial surprise. "I've still gotta finish adjusting this suit before we call it a day."

"I thought you said you were done making weapons," Pepper said in an accusing tone.

She put her hands on her hips as she noticed how much more closely Ada and Tony had been working together. After everything that had happened, Ada was more than happy to spend whatever time she could with him.

"It's a flight stabilizer," Tony explained while flexing his wrists a little.

The suit itself was perfectly designed so that every aspect of it was flexible, including the fingers. Tony wanted to ensure that he could maneuver around whatever bullets were being fired at him. So when he lifted his now-gloved hand, Ada had been prepared to duck for cover. Pepper was not so fortunate. The thruster suddenly came to life, firing towards Pepper as she dove for whatever hiding place she could find.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Tony?" she cried out while Ada let out a sigh of frustration.

"Dammit dad, you should've known better than to aim it at her," she muttered after reaching the now blasted table they had been working at.

"How was I supposed to know it would randomly activate?" he countered in his defense.

Pepper just threw both of them a glare. Watching the chaos that ensued between them hadn't helped matters, and she was already pissed off enough for something they clearly weren't responsible for. Ada held back a sigh of frustration as she caught Tony looking between the two of them.

"I'll be upstairs," she sighed in frustration. "Just try not to get yourselves killed in the process of whatever you're doing."

Us? Get ourselves killed? Ada almost scoffed at the thought in amusement. She had to admit, firing the thruster at Pepper wasn't the smartest idea Tony came up with. Fortunately, Pepper left it at that and headed for the stair without another word.

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Tony suddenly asked once she was gone.

"Nope. Frankly, I'm hoping Jarvis keeps this in the records," Ada replied with a knowing look.

'I have already secured the video footage in the database, Miss Stark,' Jarvis reassured her immediately.

Ada couldn't hide the smirk that followed when Tony mumbled 'traitor' under his breath. He didn't bother saying anything though when they headed for the stairs. Pepper had been serious when she mentioned that Obadiah was on the main floor. That told her nothing good would come out of his visit.

Sure enough, when they reached the main living area, she saw Obadiah sitting at a piano playing classical music. She rose an eyebrow at the sight. Ada had seen him play the piano many times before, but it was only usually when he was in a mood. Judging from the box of pizza left on the top of the piano, she suspected it was nothing good. She glanced at Tony cautiously when he reached for the box of pizza, grabbing a slice and handing one to Ada.

"It went that bad, huh?" Tony asked once he took a bite.

"Just because I brought back pizza from New York doesn't mean it went bad," Obadiah replied.

"You usually only bring back food from another state if something went wrong," Ada pointed out.

Obadiah looked at her in surprise, though he made no comment. She couldn't shake off the feeling that he was hiding something. Each time he looked at her, it was almost as if he was scrutinizing her. She tried brushing off the uneasy thoughts and she looked down at the floor warily.

"Well, it would've gone a lot better if you were there in person," he finally rolled his eyes when Tony said something she didn't catch.

Tony was halfway finished with his slice of pizza when Obadiah gave him a stern look. She knew from experience that whenever he gave Tony a look like that, the news wasn't anything good. Ada shook her head at the thought. When it came to the company, there was little she could do about it. True, she carried Tony's last name because he adopted her, but she was nowhere near old enough to run an entire company or know anything about it.

The only reason she had knowledge on the company was because she did her own research, and because Pepper had shown her. Pepper was one of the few people who believed she was capable of so much more, if she was given the chance.

"You said I should lay low, and that's exactly what I'm doing," Tony reminded him.

Finally, he sat down on the couch while Ada stood not far away with her arms crossed. She tried assessing the situation from Obadiah's point of view. But that didn't make her feel any better when she caught him looking at her once more.

"This was a board of director's meeting, Tony," Obadiah retorted in a tone that dared him to argue, "The board is claiming that you suffered from post traumatic stress. They've filed an injunction."

That was enough for Ada's eyes to widen in alarm. Even Tony nearly dropped the pizza he was holding when he realized what Obadiah was implying. An injunction wasn't anything good. It meant they had the right to vote him out of the company and let Obadiah take over.

"A what?" Tony demanded.

"They want to lock you out," Ada whispered under her breath. Obadiah gave a gruff nod while Tony threw her a scathing look. "Despite the fact that he's become more responsible for what he does. And the fact that he was made aware of where his weapons were being shipped. It seems all you and the board are concerned about is the profit of weapons being shipped to places that want to use them for the wrong reason."

Her fists clenched at the thought of how many innocent people had been killed because of those weapons. After seeing so many people die in her dreams, the last thing she wanted was for it to happen in real life. She knew it was inevitable, but at least it could be avoided for as long as they needed it to be.

"A child doesn't necessarily have a say in the matter what the board discusses," Obadiah reprimanded her with a wave of his hand. Ada's eyes narrowed with frustration when he threw her an icy look. "You'd think you of all people should know that by now."

"Ada has as much of a say in the matter as I do," Tony suddenly jumped to her defense. Ada glanced at Tony in surprise when he stood up and joined her. "Besides, she's got part ownership in the company as well."

Obadiah just looked between the two with surprise when he realized they were standing up for each other. Even Pepper looked a little surprised at their rant. She nearly rolled her eyes and closed her laptop, setting it aside as she stood up with them.

"What are you two working on down there?" he asked after guessing this was the end of their discussion.

Ada frowned when she noticed that Obadiah had also followed them as they made their way back to the labs. The kind of information the suit had if in the wrong hands wouldn't necessarily end well for anyone. She had a feeling that if Obadiah got his hands on said information, he'd only utilize it as a weapon.

"Good night, Obadiah," Tony scoffed as he reached the stairs.

Glancing at Obadiah warily, she could still feel his gaze boring through her when she trailed after Tony.

…

Over the next few days, Tony and Ada had been working on developing the suit. She had to admit, it was nice being able to spend time with him in the labs. They actually felt like a real team rather than her sitting in the sidelines watching him. And to her surprise, Tony seemed just as happy having her by his side. Since they were working on the suit most of the time, Ada found herself keeping an eye on the tests that Tony ran to make sure the suit was fully functional before he took it out on an actual test run.

Most of the test runs had ended in miserable failure. Eventually, he finally managed to get the flight stabilizers to function properly. It would take time for him to actually fly out on the field, but he was getting close to making it a reality. She knew that Tony was more than willing to take the risks necessary to design the perfect suit.

He'd even gone out of the way to offer a suit for her when she was old enough. But, Ada wasn't in any hurry to build a suit for herself since she had her own powers to worry about. But knowing that Tony could make a real difference with his own suit meant more than she would ever admit out loud. He wanted to keep pulling off those stunts in order to make a difference to the world. Ada would never admit that she was proud of the changes he'd made for himself and for the people he cared about.

The fireman's ball was around the corner, and Ada had been getting ready for it. She finally picked out a dress that seemed appropriate for said ball, even though Tony would more than likely disapprove. It was a dark blue dress with an open back, and with straps dangling from her shoulders. She tied her hair into a neat braided bun, tucking any loose strands between her ears. Despite Tony's protests about her dress being too revealing, she found herself enjoying it as she reached the building where the ball was held.

She watched the several people that were gathered in small groups, either talking or laughing at whatever jokes were made. Music played in the background, and a few people had taken to the floor to dance. Ada glanced over her shoulder when she noticed a couple of news reporters asking how the company was coping with Tony's sudden change in direction.

A few people had been complaining about the company changing too much and too quickly. While a small part of her understood where they were getting at with their complaints, Tony's decision made sense. He had been running research on where the weapons were being shipped off to. And much to Ada's surprise, most of them had been shipped off to areas where gang and criminal activity was high.

With a sigh, Ada walked further into the room and debated whether she should mingle with these guests. Since she never had the chance to ask someone on a date, she doubted any boys were willing to talk to her. With Tony's reputation as a playboy, and his over protectiveness, she knew the odds of meeting someone were slim. Most of the reporters who liked to stalk her had been thoroughly surprised she didn't follow in her adoptive father's footsteps. Then again, she was so different from Tony that they finally decided to leave her be.

What did catch her by surprise was seeing Coulson in the same room, talking to Tony. She almost laughed when she noticed Tony looked like he was trying to find an escape route. His lack of acceptance towards the government only added to the humor of the situation when Coulson remained persistent. Seeing him again left her wondering whether or not the government caught on to his plans. Coulson hadn't seemed like the type who would figure something like that out so quickly. Then again, there was so little she knew about the older man.

Everything had been going smoothly until Tony glanced in Ada's direction. She frowned upon seeing his pleading look, until she noticed who he was staring at. She glanced at Pepper in surprise when the older woman finally arrived. More people were looking at her when she made her entrance.

"Hey, Pepper," she greeted the older woman as Pepper joined her.

She had to admit, Pepper looked beautiful. The strawberry blond wore a green dress, the very one Tony had gotten her for Christmas a few years ago. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, much like how Ada had tied hers into a braided ponytail. The only difference was that Pepper had put on a few pieces of jewelry. In all, she was dressed for the occasion.

"Hi, Ada, how are you doing?" Pepper asked, eyeing Ada in surprise when she noticed her dress, as well.

"Never better," Ada replied with a shrug, trying to hide her sheepish grin when she glanced in Tony's direction. Tony was still giving her that pleading look, clearly not enjoying the conversation he was having with Coulson, "Are you enjoying the party, tonight?" she asked, trying to keep things casual.

"Of course. Though watching Tony get harassed by agents is priceless," she said while struggling not to laugh.

By now, Ada was trying to smother her own laughter at the sight of Tony glaring at them. Finally, he managed to push Coulson away and made his way towards them, the accusing look never leaving when he noticed they were both struggling not to laugh.

"What are you two laughing about?" he demanded.

"You," Ada replied without hesitation.

Tony just stuck his tongue out at her, which resulted in a fit of laughter seconds later. She'd gotten so used to Tony's behavior that this was almost second-nature, to her. Though, after everything that had happened, it was nice to just laugh for a change.

"Wow, don't you look beautiful," he said to Pepper.

"Well, thank you, considering it's a dress that you bought for me," she replied cheekily.

Ada shook her head at the sight, deciding to give them some alone time. Whether they would admit it or not, she knew that Tony and Pepper had feelings for each other. Pepper was like the support Tony needed when things went wrong. But, she was also so much more than that.

She walked over to the balcony, where she could lean over the rail and think of everything that had happened. With the stars shining brightly overhead, Ada couldn't help but admire the beauty of the landscape before her. She always considered herself lucky – even though she didn't know her mother, or her father by birth, she had a family that cared about her. Tony had given her everything she wanted, and, so much more.

Often times, she thought of whether or not her mother was alive. If she was, she wondered if her mother had known this was the kind of life she would grow up with. That in the end, maybe giving her up had been the best option. She closed her eyes at the thought, deciding that it was better not to think about it. Perhaps life worked out the way it did for a reason. She certainly was better off with Tony, and, nothing would ever change that.

"Excuse me." Ada snapped her eyes open, turning to see a young man around her age joining her. She rose an eyebrow upon seeing his look of embarrassment – he was clearly hoping for a better impression than that, "I didn't recognize who you were, at first."

What caught her off guard was that British accent of his, and the way he eyed her up and down. Ada found herself staring at him for a few seconds, taking everything in. With a black suit, red tie, and well-kept dark brown hair that matched his eyes, she realized for the first time how different he looked from everyone else.

"Forgive me for staring," he quickly apologized after realizing how awkwardly quiet it had gotten, "My name is Emmett, Emmett Carhall," he introduced himself. "And you must be…"

"Ada," she introduced herself with a handshake, feeling heat rise to her cheeks upon meeting his warm gaze, "Ada Stark."

"So, you're Mr. Stark's daughter," he mused thoughtfully. "I'm surprised you don't have a date."

His question was enough for Ada to swallow and look down uncertainly.

"I usually scare most of the guys who try and court me," she admitted sheepishly, "Between that, and my father being overprotective, it's not the best combination for finding a date."

Emmett offered a sympathetic smile after realizing the reason behind her uneasiness. Truthfully, she'd had plenty of awful experiences with guys. Most of them consisted of guys courting her just because she was Tony Stark's daughter. They tried asking her on a date in the hopes of getting free money. Aside from that, Ada had learned to avoid people like that. Tony usually dealt with the more persistent bunch, often to the point where they would never step foot anywhere near the mansion again.

"I apologize," he said when he noticed how quiet she had gotten. Ada found herself leaning into the railing once more, crossing her arms as she studied the stars above her. The silence that followed was strangely comfortable. Ada couldn't help but glance at Emmett self-consciously when he too leaned into the railing beside her. "They must not have realized what they were missing out on."

It was at that point when Ada felt heat rising to her cheeks once more. His compliment was something she didn't expect. Few people saw her as anything more than Tony Stark's daughter. That was part of the reason she graduated early from school. Having dealt with the criticism they gave her and comparing her to Tony, Ada realized she wasn't going to gain their respect anytime soon. Not unless she did something drastic to change their minds, in a positive way.

"When I was little, I'd always sneak out and stare at the stars," she murmured thoughtfully, gazing up at the sky, "I was adopted by Tony, and I never knew my real mother or father… I guess looking at the stars makes me wonder if they're doing the same thing."

"The stars are quite lovely to admire," Emmett nodded in agreement. Though, Ada hadn't missed the fact that his eyes were on her, "Would you care for a dance?"

For a moment, Ada didn't know how to answer his question. It came so suddenly that her mind had to process the fact that someone had actually asked her something. She had to swallow the lump forming in her throat as she finally held out her hand, offering a warm smile as their eyes met once more.

"You sure you want to be seen dancing with a Stark? It might start stirring questions you might not be ready for," she warned him knowingly.

The media would go crazy over something like this. Worst still, there was no telling what Tony would do if he caught them together.

"There isn't anyone I would rather want to be seen with," he replied without missing a beat.

It took a few seconds for his words to register, and, Ada found her heart fluttering with joy. It was the first time anyone ever made her feel as though they appreciated her. They reached the other side of the room where they could avoid the curious eyes of onlookers.

For the first time since she got adopted, she actually felt normal. Emmett's smile was irresistible, as Ada soon found out. His laughter and the way he spoke so smoothly only left her wanting more. She realized with a start that they had a lot in common. They spent most of that night just talking or dancing.

Neither were aware of the fact that someone had been watching them. Of course, Ada found herself not bothering to care. She couldn't help but wonder if this was what really felt like to actually want someone. To actually feel as if someone accepted her for who she was, and not because of her family name.

There were so many times when she thought of how life had been at the orphanage. At her old home, she'd had Heather, Maggie and the rest of the caretakers looking after her. Now, she had a place that she could call home, and a father who cared about her. Now, she wouldn't want her life to be any different.

…

"So, who's your friend?"

Ada rolled her eyes at the question Tony brought up at breakfast. The question was expected, after the party had gone so well for her. Emmett had left his number and a chance for them to meet up again, when the party was over.

"Relax, dad. He's just a friend," she replied after taking a bite out of her toast, "A friend who offered me a dance, last night."

She let out a sigh of contentment as she pictured his brown eyes searching hers. Nothing could have prepared her for the rush of joy she felt when they talked, or how he swooned her with his smooth talk and easygoing attitude.

"So, he's not anything else?" Tony asked, clearly growing more suspicious over her odd behavior.

She'd never acted this way around any guy, let alone a complete stranger. No thanks to Tony's overprotective behavior, she'd never known what it was like to date anyone, before. That familiar sense of defiance suddenly came rushing back. She wanted to know what it was like, and, to rebel against whatever he said.

"Seriously?" she groaned after realizing where Tony was getting at, with this, "That's the last thing on my mind, right now!"

Truthfully, she couldn't get him out of her mind. Between that and the butterflies in her stomach, Ada didn't know what was worse. The last thing she needed, though, was an overprotective father questioning her every motive.

"Alright, I'm just sayin', you need anyone to shake him off and I'll be there." Ada almost laughed at that, knowing full-well Tony would send their sorry ass to prison if anyone tried taking advantage of her, "I'll be in the lab if you need me."

Relief swept through Ada when he left it at that, taking breakfast with him down to the lab. She knew he'd bring it up again, but, she couldn't help but let her mind wander back to Emmett. She had a feeling that they would be seeing each other again, more often than not. And, whether Tony liked it or not, this was something that she wanted.