Chapter Forty

"We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn't matter, I said it cause he said it. So now he was famous and that's basically get said by two well known guys. I don't, uh… I'm gonna start again. Let's track this from the beginning…"

December 2013.

The holiday season had become one of Ada's favorite times of the year. Though it was often seen as hectic and sometimes chaotic in most places, she loved seeing all of the Christmas lights, the music, and everything about it. Snow in Malibu, California was a rare occurrence, and so when it happened in New York before Ada returned home, she'd nearly acted like a kid in the candy shop. The looks on everyone's faces when she reacted to it was priceless, especially when Tony managed to get a picture of it.

"Yep; that's going on a holiday card," he'd said cheerfully after she threw a snowball at him.

At the time, Ada hadn't thought much of it. But when she looked back at it, she realized how happy her life had been. While it might not have been the most perfect life, it was certainly better than living in the orphanage where she would have likely grown up.

With the holidays in full-swing, Ada somehow found herself sitting in a wheelie chair as she waited for Director Fury's latest comments on her progress. After receiving a call from the Director just weeks before Christmas, Ada had been slightly miffed. Though she knew it was part of the job title, she'd promised Pepper that they would meet up later and go shopping for Christmas presents. They hadn't gotten the chance to do so since she'd been busy with SHIELD.

"You've been doing well with Captain Rogers," he remarked after reading the notes left by Natasha. With Clint busy doing whatever it was he did, Natasha was the one keeping an eye on Ada's progress with Steve. Not that she didn't mind. She found herself enjoying Natasha's company more often than not, especially with Pepper being busier than usual with her position as the CEO of Stark Industries. "Seems the press had a little field day with the two of you."

"It was nothing we couldn't handle," she nearly rolled her eyes at that.

The press did try to make it seem as if they were seeing each other. As tempting of an offer as that sounded, Ada knew it wasn't possible. She and Steve were in different places in their lives, and frankly, she wasn't in any hurry to start a new relationship. Not after the last one ended so badly. A shiver swept through her as memories of said relationship suddenly came rushing back. She knew that it hadn't necessarily been her fault, but she did blame herself for not looking further into Emmett's history and what his father had been doing.

Despite her lack of willingness to start a relationship, that hadn't stopped them from deciding to keep in touch with each other. They'd at least reached an agreement to call one another at least once a week, so long as Tony wasn't aware. The last thing Ada wanted was for him finding out that anything was going on. He was already on edge as it was after the press tried making a mess out of their lives. She wasn't in the mood to deal with his overprotective nature.

"Nonetheless, Romanoff was thoroughly impressed with your progress… you should know that it's almost impossible to impress her," he put in after setting the files to the side.

"She's made that perfectly clear during our sparring sessions." She had to admit, Natasha was one of the few agents who rarely held back during sparring sessions. Ada had the scars to prove it. Their line of work meant that they had to tough it out, no matter the circumstances. While Tony wasn't happy with the realization that she was receiving 'rough treatment' from her training, even he couldn't argue with the results. "But, I'm going on the hunch that her progress reports aren't the only reason you've called me here."

Fury pressed his lips together in a thin line as he leaned against the back of his seat. She may not have entirely trusted his intentions of letting her join SHIELD, but that didn't mean she wasn't paying attention. Fury only ever called her in when they found something that posed a threat, to either her or someone she cared about.

"We've been keeping track on an enemy that calls themselves the 'Mandarin'," he explained. That caught her attention. Ada leaned forward when Fury stood up and reached for another manila folder, this one smaller than the others, "He's a newer enemy, one that we've been trying to locate for the last couple of weeks. Seems each time we manage to find a signal, it wears off."

Ada frowned as she studied the files carefully. They had one picture of him. A man who looked to be in his early thirties, dressed like one of the terrorists from the Middle East, stared back at her. A shiver swept through her. She knew that Tony had run into terrorists similar to this man, and they were the same people responsible for the arch reactor in his chest. What bothered her more than anything was that he posed a threat, and said threat hadn't been made public.

"Any idea where he came from?" she asked curiously.

"Afraid not. We're keeping an eye on him, for the time being," Fury replied. Ada rose an eyebrow as she tossed the file back, all-too-aware that the 'Mandarin' was just one of the many threats that SHIELD kept from the public. "For now, I want you to keep an eye on your father."

She almost laughed at that, "Since when did I become my father's babysitter?"

"He might know a thing or two about the Mandarin," he snapped, narrowing his eye when she crossed her arms and looked back defiantly, "Besides, he already knows Romanoff and Barton. He trusts you."

So, you're asking me to play with his emotions, she realized.

She narrowed her eyes at the thought. The last thing she wanted was to break whatever trust they had. She knew SHIELD was the last organization he trusted, and that was for a good reason. She had quickly learned that Howard Stark worked for SHIELD, and that he was one of the founders. Since Howard hadn't told Tony most of the truth about his role in the agency, Tony never trusted it. And Ada found herself understanding why he didn't fully trust the agency in question.

"Sounds like a fun way to spend my Christmas," she muttered under her breath.

Fury only rolled his eye before handing her the file to take with her. She did just that, already aware that he wanted her to work during the holidays. Though, that notion didn't entirely surprise her. About the only thing she was grateful for was that Fury hadn't sent her across the country during the holidays.

…

"What the hell, dad?" Ada demanded when she reached the lab.

Christmas music was blasting in the background. Tony just looked at her sheepishly as he revealed the fresh nicks on his arm. With blood staining the floor, Ada soon realized that he had been working on the project that had been in the planning phase for what felt like years.

She knew Tony had been working on a suit design that could be called upon with a signal sent by nano-tech in his bloodstream. While Ada didn't approve of the idea, she knew this was just another distraction from real life. He'd tried supplying that the idea was meant to make it easier to call the suit if there was ever danger close by. Ada was aware that the tech was still new and dicey to work with, so she wasn't surprised that Tony hadn't informed Pepper of his plan.

"I figured you'd be happy with me working on new projects, given how much you enjoy helping me out with them," he quipped nonchalantly.

"While I do enjoy watching you get your ass kicked by your own robots, I don't enjoy seeing you hurt yourself," she retorted.

Tony just snorted at the mention of getting his ass kicked. She still had the video of Dummy nearly knocking him out the one time he tried sparring with the robotic arm. The whole thing had been hilarious, especially since Tony didn't even remember what had happened at the time. He had been drunk at the time, and Ada had taken full advantage of his antics. When he saw the recording the morning after, he'd been annoyed with her for weeks after until she promised not to post it online.

"I've been working on the new suit," he explained after cleaning the worst of his injuries. "Dummy. Hi, Dummy. How'd you get that cap on your head? You earned it." Ada tried not to laugh when he pointed from Dummy to the blood-stained mat. Tony was always harder on his robots than he needed to be; today happened to be one of those days as Dummy now fashioned a 'Dunce' hat, "Hey. Hey! What are you doing round in the corner? You know what you did. Blood on my mat, handle it."

"What did Dummy ever do to you, dad?" Ada snorted in amusement as she reached for a paper towel.

"Don't do his work for him," Tony protested, "It's gonna make him feel useless."

Not for the first time, Ada wanted to point out that he was a robot, and therefore didn't feel anything. Instead, she ignored him and cleaned up the mess, realizing that if Pepper saw it, she'd freak. She was annoyed enough with how Tony had been locking himself in the lab more often than usual. Ada wasn't surprised with Pepper's annoyance, especially with the holidays approaching.

This is supposed to be the one time where we all get together, she reminded herself.

"Dad, how long has it been since you've had any decent sleep?" she added after noticing his eyes looked slightly bloodshot.

Tony threw her an incredulous look, though he gave no answer.

"Mr. Stark has been awake for nearly seventy-two hours," Jarvis answered for him.

Tony just mumbled something under his breath, only indicating to the fact that he was clearly doing something wrong. That was enough for her to glare at him. She would have thought after nearly dying, he would have learned his lesson. Instead, he was only making things worse by neglecting whatever necessary sleep he needed.

But, she also knew how stubborn he could be. Even if there was a problem, Tony would be the last person to admit it until it was too late. It was one of the many infuriating qualities of Tony that irritated her to no end.

"Are you out of your damn mind, dad?" she snapped, narrowing her eyes when Tony just shrugged, "Do you know how unhealthy that is?"

"One, you're not my doctor, and two, my lab, my rules," he retorted without missing a beat.

Ada crossed her arms in annoyance. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering why she bothered trying to look out for him. Because, she knew that even with Jarvis, Pepper or Happy, he'd likely be a mess on his own.

He walked over to where Dummy was, muttering a few things under his breath as he reached one of the cameras. Ada leaned against a work table and held back a sigh of frustration. She knew he was using the suits as a distraction, but, she didn't know what the distraction was for.

"Focus up, ladies. Good evening, and welcome to the birthing suit. I'm pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing, bad-ass, baby brother." He turned to face the camera once again. "Start Titan and go wide, stamp in time." Then he turned towards her with the slightest of smirks. "Mark 42 autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Initialize sequence." She rolled her eyes as the suit powered on, and Tony clasped his hands together in anticipation, "Jarvis, drop my needle."

Seconds later, and music started playing from the old record player he'd fixed a few years ago. Ada watched from a distance, knowing that he had had a few videos from the very first test-runs of the Iron Man suit, when it was in the early stages. She had been there for good measure to see what sort of project he was working on at the time. Ada almost smirked when she recalled how many times he had failed miserably trying to get the suit functioning properly. Tony was the one who insisted that practice made perfect. She had quickly learned that he was right about that. Her own powers were definitive proof that practice did make perfect.

Tony let out a huff of frustration as he held out his hands, as if expecting something to happen. The nano-tech that was supposed to act like a homing signal didn't seem to be working. Ada rose an eyebrow at that. A few people at Stark Industries had been working on said nano-technology, but none of them ever came close to accomplishing their goals. Pepper was always keeping tabs on the technological advances made at the company. If anyone did ever come across such technology, Tony would be the first to hear about it through his CEO.

He finally dropped his arms and glared at his hand, though Ada moved to the side just as she heard something whirring in the distance. The familiar sound of machinery whirring to life was a sure-sign that the nano-tech was working. It was just a little slower than Tony anticipated. Ada suddenly pulled out her phone and hit the 'record' button when she realized this wasn't going to go the way he'd planned. She knew Jarvis would record the whole thing, but she wanted video footage for herself.

Her smirk widened when Tony muttered 'crap' under his breath after realizing too late what was about to happen. He'd bit his arm, hoping to get one of the sensors to work. Though the machinery was functioning properly, it didn't seem as if the signals were working properly. Ada almost laughed at the sight. Hurting himself wasn't always the right answer, but she did find it hilarious that he had to resort to such lengths just to get the machinery working.

He pointed his arms to the table once again in the attempt of calling them. Ada moved out of the way just in time as a piece of machinery came flying in her direction. One of the metal pieces reached his hand, latching on within seconds. The glove stretched out until his arm was covered up to his elbow. Soon the other pieces started flying towards him, until the rest of his left arm was covered. He turned towards the table and the other piece flew off to cover his left hand, causing him to laugh in response.

"Alright, time to slow it down," Tony started after struggling to catch his breath.

By now, Ada was struggling not to laugh when one of the pieces careened past him and into one of the display cases behind him, causing the glass to shatter everywhere. The impact of the piece managed to knock off the head of the suit, and it wasn't long before chaos soon followed.

"I am so recording this," she warned him when he saw that her phone was out and recording the whole scene.

"No, you're not!" Tony protested, though, he didn't have much of a chance in that as more pieces came flying at him. Ada was choking back a fit of laughter as he glared at her, and just when he was about to blast the phone out of her hand, she moved to the side to avoid it. "You are not sending that to any of your SHIELD buddies, or Rogers!"

"Don't worry about it, dad," she replied with a cheeky grin, "I'm just sending it to Clint."

She knew the archer would get a kick out of seeing Tony's ass getting kicked by his own suit. Tony just rolled his eyes when he realized there was no reasoning with her. Even if it was just sent to Clint, he would more than likely post the video on some website, and it would go viral within seconds because the 'victim' happened to be Tony.

Tony knelt over in pain as one of the metal pieces smacked him right in the crotch. Finally, Ada couldn't hold back the fit of laughter that followed as he doubled over in pain. Another piece flew to his back just as he tried standing up, only to fall over once more as the piece latched itself around him.

"You enjoy watching the old man get his ass kicked?" he groaned after asking Jarvis to cool it down.

"Only when he deserves it, and when it offers me the perfect blackmail for when I need him." The scowl that followed was priceless.

The final piece finally came rushing in, only to crash into the record player, leaving the room in silence. Once it recovered from the impact, the faceplate powered up again and hovered in front of Tony, almost as if it was anticipating his next move.

"Come on, I ain't afraid of you!" Tony goaded it on, flexing his fingers as if that would make it move any faster. The plate suddenly moved forward, hitting the table once again and fixing itself in the right position so that it fit on his face. Tony decided at that moment to jump in the air and perform a back flip with his thrusters, catching the faceplate in midair. He landed on the ground and slammed his fist into the floor before looking back at me with what Ada assumed was his signature smirk. "I'm the best."

"There are those who would argue with that statement," Ada muttered under her breath.

Though, she had to admit that when it came to designing suits and new technology, Tony had just about everyone beat. His ego was already large enough, though, and she wasn't in any hurry to say that out loud.

His moment of triumph was short-lived, though, when another piece of armor came flying into the lab. The piece managed to crash into his butt, causing him to fall flat on his face seconds later. Within seconds, the suit dispersed along the floor in various pieces, leaving a mess for both Dummy and Ada to clean up later on. Ada couldn't hide the cheeky grin that followed, though. She had to admit, she loved Jarvis' sense of humor, especially when it came to teasing Tony, on a constant basis.

"As always, sir, a pleasure working with you."

That was enough for Ada to laugh even harder, if that was possible. Her stomach was beginning to cramp from the laughter, and it only got worse when she saw Tony's face. Even he couldn't keep a straight face for long as he noticed how contagious her laughter was.

"I thought you and Peps had a 'shopping day' planned for today?" he asked after they both recovered, and they caught their breaths.

"Something last minute came up at work, and she had to stay for the afternoon," she replied with a shrug. Tony rose an eyebrow as they sat down to relax for a little. "I figured I'd stop by and see what you've been working on."

"Well, you got a small look at the future," he informed her, "I've been working on suits that can operate without me physically controlling them. Jarvis can run the most basic commands on the suits, though I'm still the main operator of them."

Ada couldn't help but frown as she realized what he meant by that. He had been acting different ever since the battle of Manhattan. The suits and everything else had just been a distraction from the reality of what had happened, yet, Ada could see that something else was clearly bothering him.

"So, what's this I hear about you not getting enough sleep?" she added warily, knowing he wouldn't likely give her an honest answer.

At least, not without some coaxing.

"Nothing important." Ada narrowed her eyes as she caught the warning look he threw her. "We're leaving it at that."

The hell you are, she retorted silently when he left before the argument could continue.

Something was bothering Tony. And, whether he wanted to admit it or not, she knew he needed help. It was just a matter of figuring out what that something was, before it was too late.