Hey everyone just wanted to say I love writing this story and even though updates are slow i have a full plan to see this through till Endgame. Sorry for any mistakes, part of the reason updates are so slow is editing takes me forever. please review if you have any thoughts or comments on my story! thanks for reading!
Chapter 8
After the chaos of Tony's announcement, Elena decided to go home and begin working on specs for a new arc reactor for her father. Tony had stayed behind to discuss business with Obadiah. Elena had never been more thankful that her father did not make her sit around to observe than this instance. She didn't want to be around Stane's passive aggressive anger over Tony decision, because there was no doubt that he would find a way to blame her for it. And after years of "accidental" bruises, and secret verbal abuse from Stane, Elena was only too glad to not be in the same room as him, whether her father was there or not.
While she was in the lab, she programmed Dummy to start cleaning up the mess she had made over the last few months, knowing her father would not appreciate the way she had left his workspace.
Elena had one of Tony's rock playlist going when she was interrupted in her work by the music being turned down, "Miss Stark you have an incoming call from a Frank Bowman, would you like me to answer?" Jarvis asked her.
"Yes, please Jarvis," She replied, with a pencil in her mouth.
Elena stopped her current work on her dad's new chest piece, to bring up the specs she had made a few days ago for Frank's new earpieces. His voice rang out, "What's up Trust Fund are you going to bail on me again tomorrow?" he mocked, his tone light, and Elena could almost picture his signature smirk.
"Ha, Ha," she mockingly laughed, "Sorry that my dad returning from the dead superseded our gym routine." Elena quipped at her trainer, rolling her eyes as she looked over her design for him. "We still good for the same time tomorrow," she inquired.
"Well I may have to cut our session short if I get called in to my other job would that be okay?" He asked in concern, Elena sighed in mock exasperation. "I guess so."
"You're the best Trust Fund." He responded.
"Yeah, Yeah. Hey how do you feel again about implants?" There was a beat of silence before he responded, "You are not operating on me trust fund till you finish your residency." His tone final.
Elena rolled her eyes at Frank's distrust in her skills, and answered back, "I wouldn't operate I would just be creating the tech that they needed to implant and walking them through the procedure. It's simple really, and very non-invasive. You wouldn't even scar!" She defended her procedure.
He scoffed before answering, "Try again trust fund." His voice deadpanned to her over the phone, and she could just picture his unimpressed facial expression, with his arms crossed over his chest. This made Elena realize how close the two of them had become over the past few weeks. How she took at him like a big brother figure.
She then sighed in disappointment, "Fine we can try the new pieces I'm making now out tomorrow during our session. I'll kick you in the head a bunch to see if they fall out." She laughed at her own joke. To which Frank responded with his own mock laughter, "That's so funny Trust Fund, I think that's earned a series of rapid-fire burpees." His tone once again indicating the he knew he had gained the upper hand, in their battle of wits
"NOOO" She whined loudly, her voice echoing off of the machines around her. Elena hated burpees with a burning passion. While she didn't mind working out and staying in shape, she was convinced burpees were made by sadist trainers who just wanted to torture their clients.
Frank's delighted laugh resonated in the lab as he responded, "Oh yes Trust Fund, bright and early tomorrow morning." Elena groaned as Frank ended the call without a proper goodbye. Elena just knew that he was standing in the gym with a smug smile on his face after winning the last word. A whine left her lips as she put her head into her hands dreading tomorrow's work out.
At hearing her whine, Dummy whirled in concern as he picked up a piece of trash near where she was seated. She turned to him and spoke, "Well Dummy, I guess that's what I get for being a smart ass." Dummy seemed to whirl in agreement, and Elena smiled and petted the droid that she had created with her dad.
"Hey Squirt, what're you working on down here," Her dad asked as he enter the room, now dressed in something more laid back and Tony like.
Bringing up the holo schematics of the new arc reactor for him, she turned and began to explain the modifications that she wanted to make and why. Tony was blown away by how fast she had picked up his design and was able to modify it. In all honestly, he had never really given Elena credit when it came to her tech abilities. He had always assumed her heart was solely with medical procedures. They both workshopped her design and created an improved reactor together over the course of a few hours. They had some Chinese food delivered as they worked and were just at peace to working together.
Once it was all said and done, they began to physically assemble it together. As they worked Tony took the time to admire his daughter and how she had grown since he had left. She looked like she had gained some more muscle mass and her already long hair seemed like it had somehow grown another foot. He realized he had somehow missed her going from an awkward gangly teenager into a graceful, elegant young woman.
"So how bad was it over there," She asked in a quiet voice, breaking the silence they had fallen into as they as they worked. He looked over at her, as she kept her concentration on working on the core mechanism of the arc reactor. He knew this was her way of offering him to talk about his problems without them having a serious conversation. She knew if she pretended to work then they could act as if this was a normal everyday conversation.
"It was bad, Elena." He responded while soldering.
"You can tell me about it you know. I won't judge, and it will stay between us." She offered, knowing her father never really showcased any emotion that wasn't positive or sarcastic. However, Tony knew he could never unload this burden on her, it wouldn't be fair. No this was his alone to carry.
"Thank you for the offer kid, but I'm home with you now so it's going to be just fine." He offered, taking her free hand in his and giving it a tight squeeze. She squeezed back as a sad smile graced her face.
"I won't be here forever Dad. You have to find a way to deal with your demons sooner or later." She said looking over at him with worry glazing over her eyes. Tony knew that her time living back at home was short lived and that she would be leaving sooner rather than later.
"Yeah your program in Boston starts soon doesn't it." He asked knowing after being gone so long their time together before she went back to her residency program was creeping up on them rather quickly.
"No, that one is not starting soon, but the one in New York will be starting in about a month, I was going to take the plane later this week and go out and look at some apartments." She said so casually as if they hadn't had a fight about her future right before he was taken.
He perked up and looked at her with a happy expression, "New York huh, you know that we have properties there you can stay in." He hinted, feeling better that she would be staying in a city he had a lot of business in.
"Yeah but none of them are close to the hospital and I know I'm not going to want to have a long commute after working long shifts." She explained trying to dance around the fact that she wanted a space of her own
"We could have a driver take you to and from that way you can pass out in the car." He offered with a smirk, happy that he would have a way to keep tabs on her.
"No, Dad no driver and no personal security person. My compromise for this is that I live life in New York like a normal person." She argued throwing a glare that would cause others to retreat.
"You're going to be a 19-year-old going into the first year of her trauma surgery residency that really doesn't sound normal to me." He quipped back with a fond smile on his face.
"Then as normal as it can be." She said with a note of finality in her voice.
He raised his arms in surrender, but he smirked when a reply quickly came to his mind. "What if Happy just happens to be in the neighbor?" He asked with a look of feigned innocence.
"Dad, please don't make me regret this choice. I need to do some things on my own, this program and this stage of my life need to be one of them." She said stopping her work to turn and look at him.
He sighed and dropped what he was doing, "I will do my best to give you space, and privacy but I can't promise that I won't be dropping in for some pizza and a chat every once and awhile." Tony told her as he drapped his arm around her shoulders in a small hug.
"I'm limiting you to no more than once a month and you can't just show up at the hospital deal? You will text me like a normal parent and we will make plans to meet somewhere." She bartered with him.
"God when did you become such a negotiator?" He asked ruffling her hair.
"When you made me double major in business and pre-med." She deadpanned.
He shrugged as if to say true, stood up, and kissed the top of her head. "I think it's time to call it a night Squirt," Tony said stretching, as his looked at his watch and realizing it was 2 in the morning.
"Okay, well the piece is all finished so, tomorrow after my work out I can come back and put this in for you." She said as she took stood up and crack her back after sitting for who knows how long.
"There some monitor equipment down here that I have set up for other test but we can use it to monitor your vitals, and make sure you don't go into cardiac arrest during the switch over, which shouldn't happen so long as we don't remove the magnetic base." She went over as she began to clean her station.
Tony nodded along knowing he wouldn't be allowing her to replace his reactor. Not because he didn't trust her to do it, but because if something did happen, he couldn't let that be on her. He would just have to replace it while she was out.
"You got it Squirt, I'll see you in the morning?" Tony asked trying to gauge when she would be out of the house.
"I have a workout scheduled in about-," she glanced at her watch and grimaced, "5 hours so I may be out before you wake up." She answered smiling at him.
"Great we can grab lunch," He smiled at her as she made her way out of the lab, knowing full well that tomorrow was going to be an issue.
The smack of Elena's body hitting the matt below her echoed throughout the empty boxing gym. The sound was quickly followed by the laughter of her overly cocky instructor.
"I'm sorry what was that smack talk about kicking my ass yesterday Trust Fund?" He asked, while his student took a minute to stop seeing stars after their hand to hand training.
"One day if you ever need a doctor, I hope I'm there to make it slow and painful." She shot back as she rubbed the place on her sternum where he had hit her to knock her down.
Frank had decided that it was time to stop holding his punches and was treating her as if they were in a real fight. There was no need to baby her anymore, she had been advancing quite well over the past month. She could even mange to land a hit or two on him.
He laughed at the young woman in front of him, and offered his hand to assist her in standing, "Yeah, Yeah, Trust Fund, I told you, I'm not letting you operate on me anytime soon." He mocked while rolling his eyes at her.
"Your loss bird brain," She responded as Frank helped her to her feet, and she adjusted her shirt.
"Go grab your inhaler," he ordered knowing she tried to pretend like she didn't need it. While trying to catch her breath she simply nodded at him in understanding.
They had been going at it for the last two hours, and Elena was thoroughly wiped. Now that she was standing, she felt a familiar ach go through her whole body as it often did once Frank was done with her. She looked down and noticed that both of his hearing aides had made their way to the mat after the sparring session, and she bent down to pick them up.
She handed them back to him and signed to him to hold on for one moment. She quickly made her way to her gym bag. Following her instructors order she quickly took a hit of her inhaler, before she grabbed the case in her bag that contained her new tech.
Elena made her way over to Frank and signed for him to come closer. Frank bent down a little so she could guide his head with her hands. She pulled out the plyers she made to insert the hearing devices, and gently placed the tiny comms she made into his ear canals with exact precision.
"Okay" she said quietly, almost in a whisper, "How do they feel?" She asked as she backed away from him.
"What am I supposed to be feeling?" He asked matching her whispered tone.
"Honestly? Nothing, I designed them to be weightless and almost invisible. How is the volume so far?" She asked in a hushed tone.
He laughed, "Well if you stopped whispering,I could tell." He mocked her, ending his sentance with his smug smile.
She blushed in embarrassment before she explained, "I wasn't quite sure how loud they would be for you. So, I figured we should start out at a normal volume, but now that you wanna be a dick about it I may just scream from now on." She said yelling the last few words of her sentence.
He grimaced and held his ears slightly, "Okay point taken Trust Fund, don't kill the remaining hearing I have, please and thank you." He said exasperated as he cautiously lowered his hand away from his ears.
She laughed lightly at him and went to grab a pad she had with her. She handed it to him and said, "Here is the remote control for them. You can raise and decrease the volume like normal, there is a mute option for if you ever want to tune out the world," She explained to him as pointed out the interface on the pad she was giving him.
"I even invented a mode that would allow you to listen to people farther away then normal, because I'm nosey. But never use them to listen in on me or I'll hack these babies and make you listen to Crazy Frog till the end of your days." She threatened half-heartedly.
"You made this for me Trust Fund?" He asked in awe of her.
"Well originally yes, in my spare time looking for my Dad. However, think of all the people this could help, well once I'm done testing it out on my Guinee pig." She said fondly patting his shoulder.
Frank looked at her stunned and also with a twinge of guilt. He was stunned that this girl who he didn't know a month ago had gone out of her way to help him, and that at the age of 19 she was creating tech that men twice her age couldn't come up with.
He knew Fury wanted to recruit her, but a part of him had become protective of the young Stark. He knew what a life in S.H.I.E.L.D. could mean, and he didn't want to push her into anything. Unfortunately, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent now realized that once his handler and his superiors saw the tech she had created for him there would be no deterring their recruitment of her.
In a moment of unusual vulnerability, he brought the young girl next to him in for a bear hug and lifted her off the ground, "You're the best Trust Fund, I really mean it." Frank said sincerely.
"Oh, sure you tell me that after you've kicked my ass all over this gym. Sure, I see how it is." She snarked not letting the moment get too sentimental.
Frank put her back on the ground and rubbed the back of his neck, "Hey Elena I have a favor to ask, I have a boss at my other job, who would really like a meeting with you before you head to New York, do you think you could make the time to see him?" Frank asked knowing that after that meeting their relationship would change.
"Uh, maybe what would he want to meet about?" She asked curious, since this is the first time Frank ever mentioned something about his other job, or his boss to her in person. Elena knew this wasn't Frank's fulltime job, but they never really talked about what else he did.
"He's interested in medical tech and I think would like to pick your brain about a few of his ideas." Frank lied through his teeth but starting off with telling her he was the leader of covert government agency, interested in recruiting her really wasn't the way to get her to agree.
"Uh yeah sure, I can't give him any of my ideas, but I can help consult if he wants. Let me check when I'm free and I'll send you a text." She answered toweling off so they could start their cool down routine.
"Thanks, he's a little rough around the edges but just keep an open mind if you can. I wouldn't have you two meets, if I didn't think you could handle yourself with him." He advised as they began their stretching.
"Okay thanks for the heads up, I'll try to keep the snark in short supply that day." She joked as she started her yoga routine next to him.
"Yeah I'll believe that when I see it Trust Fund." He quipped.
"Just worry about your form Bird Brain," She quipped back.
Frank smiled at her, and beyond his better judgement realized that he had made an honest connection with this girl. He knew he shouldn't have, but they got along so well and fell into rhythm so easily, like siblings. He knew if she accepted Fury's offer, and on the off chance she didn't hate him after, that he would be the first to volunteer to continue her training. Since unbeknownst to her he had been training her since their first meeting.
Elena pulled up to her home, wanting nothing more than to jump in the pool and cool off after the work out that Frank had put her through. She opened the door to Remy barking and sprinting his way across the marble foyer to get to her.
"Hey boy!" she exclaimed, as she greeted her pup. This also made her take note that, when looking for her new place in NYC she had to make sure it was animal friendly. She needed to get a plan together for her visit soon, because she wanted to be settled at least two weeks before her program started.
She walked into the lounge area where Pepper sat doing work, "Hey Pep, can you do me a favor? Can you get me the information for the residency program director at Metro-Gen Hospital, I want to schedule a visit soon, would love to meet with them?"
"You sure you do not want me to set it up?" She asked looked a little nervous.
"No, I got it. Plus, I have to coordinate some apartment walk throughs. I'll call some places when I'm done helping Dad put in his new reactor." She said looking at her phone for the number of their New York real estate broker.
"You're not staying in the Park Ave penthouse?" She asked in surprise.
Elena looked at her in doubt and responded, "Where my father can drop in unannounced whenever he wants, no thanks Pep. I need some decorum of normalcy." She told Pepper, who shrugged in understanding. Pepper knew that what Elle was saying about her father's ability to just drop in on his daughter whenever he wanted was a thing he would most defiantly take advantage of.
Elena made her way into the kitchen to grab a water, when Pepper spoke up from the lounge,
"Sure, anything else you need? I can look into a place for you and Remy if you want, or organize a flight for you? Make sure the penthouse is set for your visit? Oh, do you want to see a Broadway show while you're there?" She offered in rapid fire, which was a normal tick for Pepper when she had something to hide from Elena.
Elena frowned and made her way into the lounge again looking at Pepper as the secretary now seemed to be very interested in her palm pilot. "Hey Pep," she spoke inquisitively.
"Yes, Ellie." She answered still not meeting her eye.
"What are you hiding?" She asked directly. Pepper kept looking down as she shrugged and replied, "Nothing that I can think of."
Elena nodded at her in mock belief and responded, "Yeah okay, so why can't you look at me all of sudden?" This statement caused the secretary to pull herself away from the tech in front of her and look up at the young women to look her in the eye, "Better Ellie?" She asked.
"Yeah you bet, so if I guess what's wrong, will you tell me?" She asked still standing above Pepper with a look of doubt across her face, her arms now crossed in front of her.
"Ellie, nothing is wrong." She said adamantly, however not very convincingly.
"So, if I go down to that workshop right now, I won't find that Dad has done something that will piss me off, and that he's asked you not to tell me." She guessed having done this dance with the two of them once or twice.
She sighed and moved her laptop off her lap. "Dammit Ellie, stop reading me so well." She exclaimed. Elena smiled in success, knowing she had hit the nail on the head.
"What did my Dad do Pepper?" She asked arms still crosses as she looked down a Pepper.
Pepper hesitated for a second and looked down. With reluctance she pointed to the center of her chest. Realizing what Pepper was referring to, Elena gasped, sprinted over to the staircase, and jumped down the stairs. She made it to the door of the lab, and rushed in looking for her father, letting the door slam closed behind her.
"DAD!" She yelled knowing he was down there working on something.
"Yeah" he said calmly from the workstation in the corner, either blatantly ignoring her furious tone or trying to play it cool. She stormed her way over and grabbed him by the shoulder so she could see the front of him. "Whoa, Squirt use your words!" he said in surprise at the strength his daughter had moved him with.
"Arc reactor," She grounded out, looking down and pointing her finger at his chest. Still keeping up the confused charade of his, "Yes we've been over this, the arc reactor is what is keeping me alive."
Elena felt the vein in her forehead protrude, and her skin take on a red flush, "Which is why when replacing it you should have had a medical professional with you to monitor your vitals in case something went wrong. If only you knew one, oh wait YOU DID!" She yelled wildly gesturing her hands around as she went, Tony in his usual fashion kept his clam façade and gently responded, "Yeah but you weren't here Squirt, you were busy."
And the look on her face told him he had made a grave mistake by not dropping the confused act. "I TOLD YOU I HAD A WORKOUT AND WE WOULD DO IT WHEN I GOT BACK!" She screamed fed up that he would try and pin the blame of his recklessness on her.
"Oh right," He said smacking his forehead, "I forgot that you were going to back this afternoon. Guess it slipped my mind." He said in a laissez faire tone that only enraged Elena more.
"Do you know how stupid this was huh? If you had gone into cardiac arrest did you know I had supplies in the house to help until EMTS came? No, shocking." She deadpanned. Tony went to respond but Elena cut him off before he could utter a sound. "What would Pepper have done hmm call 9-1-1? Great you could have been dead before they even arrived. I know you're use to not giving a shit and everything will just work out. But I would have thought after these past few months and almost dying that you would finally smarten up and be an adult for one." She said, her voice deadly calm and to Tony that was scarier than if she had to continue to yell at him.
He went to interrupt her again but once again she cut him off, "No I don't know if this is a lack of faith in my skills or you really are just that stupid, but I can't take it. I went months not knowing if you were coming back or if you were even alive, and now you just want to risk it on something so stupid. Some genius you are." She scoffed in disgust.
Tony looked at her in shock, not really thinking she was going to react like this, he knew she would be mad but not to this level. He had thought of what could go wrong, and he hadn't wanted that to be on her conscious if it had. Hz was just trying to look out for his kid.
"Squirt this really isn't a big deal, it was a quick switch and now I'm all good to go. Your improvements worked." He said trying to calm her down and rested a hand on her shoulder.
She quickly knocked it off, "No dad it isn't. You performed a medical procedure with no medical professional in sight. You risked your life by going in the funvee. You risked your life with this stupid stunt. You never think of the consequences of your actions. I as you daughter should not have to be bringing this to your attention. You've been given a second chance at life and you're just going to waist it because you haven't changed." She spoke with such conviction in her voice, that its shocked Tony to his core.
Now that she had said what needed to be said, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the lab and back up the stairs. She saw Pepper sitting where she had left her, looking at Elena with sympathy, and slight fear. "Ellie- "
"No, you let him do this and didn't even think to call me, so I could be on my way in case something went wrong. You enabled him Pepper, and I can't right now. Do me a favor call the jet and charter a plane to New York tonight. I'll be there till I feel like coming back." She spoke with a commanding presence.
"Ellie please," She begged.
Elena cut her off, just as short with her as she had been her Dad, "My minds made up Pepper, I'm going to New York. I'll be back when that grown man down there finally decides to act his age." She spat out in anger over the whole situation that these two had made for her.
"Ellie, he meant well." she tried to reason with the young woman who could be more stubborn than the man down in the lab.
"He always does Pepper, but I almost lost him once, and the fact that he isn't taking his second chance seriously just show he has no empathy for anything I went through. I'm not going to sit here and watch him kill himself." She ranted as she headed up stairs to pack.
She stomped her way up the stairs as Remy followed behind her diligently.
It took some finesse, but Elena was able organize to see some apartments and even set up a meeting and tour of her new hospital. Lastly, she sent a message to Frank that she was going to be spending the week in New Yok and that she needed to take another raincheck on lessons, and on meeting his boss.
She packed her bag with two weeks' worth of clothing in case she hadn't cooled down by the end of her first week there. While she was packing there was a knock on her door, "Go away I'm busy." She answered the knock.
The door opened to reveal her father looking sheepish, "Squirt I'm sorry I didn't think this would set you off so bad." He said as he stepped in to see she was packing.
Elena didn't even look up as she continue to organize her suitcase, Remy resting his head on the top of her suitcase, as if he were afraid that she would forget to take him. Tony tried to catch her eye but frowned when he realized she would not look up, "Squirt please, I'm trying to apologize here." He atoned.
She stopped and looked at him, fury still blazing in her gaze, "No, you're sorry that I'm mad at you, you're not sorry about what you did. Nor are you concerned with the ramifications of all of your actions. Which again is the problem Dad." She explained as she zipped up her suitcase.
"I need you to realize that your actions affect other people. I need you to actual take care of yourself and not just run off and do something stupid. You are all I have dad, and the fact that you think you're so dispensable hurts. Like you don't care what's happens to us. So, I need to cool off and you need some space to think about things." She said sternly not allowing his sad face to change her mind.
"I thought I had the runaway from my problems gene in the family" He sulked, not liking the fact that his daughter felt she had to leave to make a point to him.
"Guess I picked up something other than your IQ and sarcasm." She replied as she leashed Remy and picked up her suitcase off the bed. She popped the handle up and began to roll away with Remy in tow.
"I'm heading to New York, so think about what I'm asking of you, and we'll talk when I get back." She said to him.
"You are coming back, right Squirt." He asked sounding unsure for the first time in awhile
"Yes Dad." She said, "I just need some space," She said in a more gently tone.
"Still love me fore than French fries," He tried to tease, hurt that she was so mad at him.
"Your about even right now." She quipped with a deadpanned stare at him. He smiled in return knowing things would be fine once she had some space. She too had been through some things while he was missing, and she needed some time to process everything.
She made her way downstairs to the car she called for herself and left for the airport where her plane was chartered for her.
When she arrived at the airstrip, she was annoyed to see Happy waiting by the plane. "How did you get here?" She asked annoyed knowing her father had sent him. Elena had specifically called her own car so Happy wouldn't be the one driving her and attempt to talk his way into New York.
"I took the freeway, you guy took the long way, " He shrugged while grabbing her bag from the back as Elena let Remy out of the front passenger seat.
"He does know that I lived by myself for three years at college, right?" She asked as he followed her up the steps of their private plane.
"Yeah that was before a terrorist took him hostage and he escaped." Happy explained.
She looked at him in doubt, "Well he can't do this forever, I doubt you want to spend most of your time in New York." She answered.
He shrugged, "I like the pizza in there." Looking unbothered by chance of moving to a new coast.
"Happy, you would much rather guard my dad than me, trust me," She told the guardian.
"Nah you've always been my favorite. Your dad gives me a headache." He complained making a motion to the top of his head.
"Doesn't he everyone." She answered with a smile.
They made their way onto the plane quickly. Elena settled down and got her laptop out to work on some new med tech specs. Trying not think about just how in flux her life was at the moment.
When they finally landed in New York in the early hours of the morning, Happy had a car waiting to take them to the penthouse the Starks had in the Upper East Side. Elena quickly unpacked for the week and sent a text to her real estate agent that she would be ready on time for their first walk through. She made her way into the living room to see Happy standing there again, he looked at her and asked, "Ready to go?"
She shook her head, "No way Happy, you're staying here. I don't need Dad's input on a place. Because all I'm going to hear is how it isn't the penthouse. I'm doing this myself Happy." She said sternly trying to take charge of her situation once more.
Happy smiled and shook his head at her as he put his suit jack back on, "No can do Elle, these orders aren't coming from Mr. Stark they are coming from Ms. Potts and between you and me she scares me more than either of the two of you."
Elena smiled at that, nodded in agreement and responded, "As she should."
Happy just shot her a knowing smile that clearly stated that he wasn't going anywhere. Elena dropped her shoulders and sighed "Fine, but you keep your input limited to my security only, got it?" she commanded, pointing her finger at him in accusation. He didn't say a word but took his pointer finger and criss crossed it over his heart.
"Okay first stop, Metro-Gen Hospital." She said as Happy motioned for her to exit the front door first.
As they made their way through the city, Happy causally pointed out good places to eat, since Elena hadn't actually spent any significant time in New York, despite the fact that Stark Industries' board resided there. She nodded along and made a mental list on what places to try. They were heading to the hospital in the middle of the day, so traffic wasn't too bad by Manhattan standards. Ellie went to get out of the car, and turned to Happy, "Alright, since this is a hospital and they have their own security, why don't you take a break. Maybe go get us some coffee and snacks I'm starving." He nodded and started to head in the opposite direction.
With a deep breath Elena looked up towards her future and began to walk with her head held high. She followed the directions that the Head of the Residency Program had given her, but quickly she realized she had somehow been turned around. Elena, knowing she was a lost cause went to the closest desk to ask for directions.
She saw a nurse standing behind the desk, by a computer, and made her way over to her. Elena smiled at her and said "Excuse me I'm a little lost I'm looking for-" She was quickly cut off by the dark haired male doctor standing to her side checking over a chart.
"The Candy Stripers meet on the fifth floor, and Nurse Chapman gets really bent out of shape when you aren't in your volunteer uniform so I would change before you head up there." The man stated without even looking up from his chart. His tone indicating that he would rather be doing anything thing else then divulging this information to her
Elena rolled her eyes and ignored the man's comment and continued to talk to the nurse in front of her who looked as annoyed with the man to Elena's left side, as Elena was.
"Sorry I was interrupted, I'm Dr, Stark. I'm supposed to be starting my residency here soon and was looking to talk with Doctor Palmer. I was told she would be the one in charge. She gave the number to her office, but it seems to be a closet. Do you know where I might find her?" Elena asked kindly, ignoring the man to her side who had assumed her to be a candy striper.
The nurse smiled kindly at her and responded, "We just renovated the floor, so all the numbers got changed around, let me page her for you." Elena smiled and relayed her thanks to the woman. While she waited for Dr. Palmer to show up, she took a look at the floor she was on. It was quite at the moment, doctors and nurses bustling about going from room to room, checking on their patients. Out of the corner of her eye Elena saw the man from before had stopped what he was doing and was just staring at, her sizing her up.
Due to her age and advance mentality, people staring at her in these types of settings was not something that was strange to her. Sadly, she had become accustomed to it by the age of 10. She turned on her heels and looked the man dead in the eye and stated, "I'm not sure if this is a new concept to you but you know staring is rude, correct?" He blinked for a moment completely unfazed and smiled, "My apologizes it's not every day you meet a child doctor." In that moment it took everything in Elena not to knock that smug, arrogant smile off his face.
Elena took no time at all to snark back, "Not every day you see a doctor with his head so far up his own ass. How do you see properly in order to perform surgery?" she inquired cocking her head to the side.
He went to reply when a woman with short auburn hair pulled backed into a ponytail cut between them and held out a hand. "Dr. Stark it's so nice to meet you, I'm Doctor Palmer, chief resident, we are super excited to have you start with us in two months. Chief Daniels has had nothing but good things to say about you." Elena smiled and took her hand, "Nice to meet too, Doctor Palmer I'm excited to get started here."
Dr. Palmer kept trying to block the man behind her, as she gestured asking Elena, "Can I give you a tour?" Elena nodded her head and began to walk with the female doctor however to Elena's annoyance the male doctor fell in step on the other side of Dr. Palmer.
He cleared his throat, and Dr, Palmer sighed in defeat and turned her head to Elena and said, "Dr. Stark this is Doctor Stephen Strange, he's one of our best neuro-surgeons, you'll probably see him during your neuro rotation." She explained.
Elena nodded, not bothering to look in his directions, "Yes we've meet." Elena didn't bother to introducer herself to Dr. Strange. Dr. Palmer nodded in understanding and said, "Right now as you know we were very impressed with your array of experience. Dr. Owens and most of your professors speak highly of your talent, and Malibu VA couldn't have been more sincere of your performance review." She told the young doctor in front of her.
Dr. Palmer hesitated for a second before continuing, "I know you're looking to spend most of your time in trauma, -" The man now known as Dr. Strange scoffed, and both female doctors threw him an annoyed glance, not missing a beat, Elena responded, "Don't think I'm expecting special treatment Dr. Palmer. I'll go through all of the rotations just like any other resident. Yes, my heart lies in trauma, but l understand I need to know all aspects of surgery before making a full decision." Elena explained, knowing that people expected her to want to cheat the system because of who her father was. Elena always had to work twice as hard to prove that she had earned things on her own merit and not by her father's wallet.
Before she could respond, the doctor known as Stephen Strange cut in once again "Why would you pick trauma, there's no prestige in trauma." Elena's face took on a look of shock as she replied, "Oh yeah no prestige, just helping people in their most desperate time of need, where is the honor in that?" She asked rhetorically.
She continued on to say, "Besides that, does everything have to be about prestige Dr. Strange? Shouldn't our job be to focus on the health of our patients, and not how they can further our career? If we have the capability to help, a person we should, no matter what." She stated, raising a challenging eyebrow towards the male doctor.
He shook his head and replied, "What a naive answer Ms. Stark without honor and prestige, our hospital doesn't get the funding that is needed to care for the patients. Although I guess money has never been a concern for you has it?" he questioned with a smug smile on his face, as if he had won an unspoken fight between the two of them.
"No, I'm too busy with my concern over my patients. You should try it sometime Dr. Strange, instead of investing yourself into a pissing contest with a new doctor who is still learning her craft. Seems a tad pathetic to me, what do you think Dr. Palmer?" She asked looking to the woman who would be her new boss.
"I think Dr. Strange tends to over think his importance to this hospital, and it was kind of you to remind him that he is not the only surgeon in this hospital." She spoke with smile on her face.
"No just the best." He responded not fazed by the fact that his comrade had sided with Elena.
"For now." Elena retorted without missing a beat, a shit eating grin graced her face.
Doctor Strange frown and went to retort with the last word when he was once again cut off by Dr. Palmer, "Don't you have some rounds to run Dr Strange. Wouldn't want your patients to suffer because their post opt wasn't overseen correctly." She gave him a look that clearly seemed to tell him to piss off. He slowly walked away still facing the female doctors, as if to say he did not trust to turn his back to them.
Doctor Palmer turned to her with an impressed look on her face, "I will say that is the best reaction I've seen to Stephen in long time. I commend you Dr. Stark" She praised the young girl, no longer worried if her age would be an issue. Elena laughed and said that it was no issue, and they continued on with the tour.
Elena was excited to get back into her medical practices, while she had enjoyed her down time, she was ready to get back to helping people. She was still doing some volunteer work at the VA hospital, but she couldn't wait to help assist with surgeries.
While Elena had been nervous about moving to New York, a city she knew very little of, on a coast she had spent very little time on, this move felt right. Finally, it felt like something was falling into place for the first time in a while. Elena rarely shared this with anyone but for a while she had felt like she was drifting through life. Not really knowing her place, due to her age and intelligence level always causing a dissonance with people. Older people saw her as too young to understand and people her age thought how she acted was too weird to fit in. A girl out place always.
But medicine made sense to her, helping people made sense to her. Which is why she had pushed her dad to open a med research department of Stark Industries when she first realized that she had this passion for medical tech. In a way her parents' passion had melded together in her.
Once she was done at the hospital, Happy met her out front with the coffee, she had sent him to get it before she went in.
Happy had joked that she had taken so long, he had finished both her coffee and muffin, and had time to go get extra ones for her. She smiled bashfully at him and thanked him whole heartedly as they got in the car to find a place for Elena to live.
While she didn't mind her father's place on the Upper East Side, she wasn't thrilled to be sharing a space that her father could come in unannounced whenever he wanted. Not that she had much to hide but having the option of having a guy over whenever she wanted or have friends over whenever. Not that her father was strict on things like parties, but there was a bit of freedom Elena had gotten use to at Stanford that she really was not willing to give up.
After hours of looking she finally settle on a nice one bedroom in a luxury apartment building in the East Village, about a 15-minute walk to the hospital, and to Happy's pleasure it had a 24-hour door man, and security on site. The apartment had a lot of locks that where not cheaply installed, and Happy also liked that it wasn't close to the ground. He could report back that their Ellie would be safe in her new home. While Tony, Pepper and Happy, were not strangers to her living alone, they had always made sure to certify where she was living at the time. Not that Elena was aware of that the first few times she had gone out on her own. Happy, and Pepper could be just as protective of the young Stark as her father could.
After settling all of her paperwork for the apartment and finalizing her residency at Metro North, Elena decided to take Remy out for a walk to get familiar with their new city. She decided to take him to a dog park that wasn't too far from the penthouse, so they could both could stretch their legs. Realizing her schedule was about to get very tight, Elena realized she needed to get a dog walker for Remy, so he could get out and stretch when she was working long hours.
She was so lost in thought about the things that needed to be done in the next few weeks before she moved, that she didn't realize she had crashed into another person until she was on her ass in the dirt. She quickly looked up in shock and apologized profusely. Feeling heat roll over her cheeks at being caught completely spacing out that she had nearly taken out another person.
"I'm so sorry," she exclaimed as Remy started to bark at who he deemed as her attacker, and quickly Elena realized how unfriendly his growl was. Elena gave the command, "Remy heel." He whined in disapproval but remained where he was, quietly growling at the stranger.
"You know if you wanted to answer my messages, you could have just called," The voice said in mirth. It had shocked Elena that she in fact recognized the voice of the person she had collided with. Looking up she now saw the features of Josh, one of the few friends she had made during med school.
"Oh my gosh Josh what are the odds?" She had asked as she started to stand up and shake the dirt off of the back of her. Thanking her stars that she hadn't landed in anything too messy.
"Well considering how hard it has been to get in touch with you, I would say extremely odd." He joked looking down at her with a smirk on his face.
She felt a rush of guilt, after her father had been taken everyone else had been put on the back burner in her life for a while and then when he had been in California, her father had been found and she had to cancel on him, knowing it was his last day on the west coast.
"I'm so sorry about being MIA lately, it's uh, been a stressful last few months." She answered brushing some of her unruly hair back behind her ear as she spoke.
He waved his hand as if brushing off her comment, "No worries Elle, I watch the news I know why you had to cancel the other day it's fine. However, you are right what are the odds that you follow me to the East coast the day I get here" He laughed.
She laughed and motioned Remy to start walking again, "Walk with me?" She asked, he nodded in agreement.
"I, uh, decided to go for a residency program here in New York, very last minute, so that's why the sudden change of scenery. Honestly, it's what I had wanted to talk to you about it, because you're the only real New Yorker I know." She joked.
He laughed, "Yeah Cali is a whole other world from here, no more working on your tan Elle."
She laughed, "Oh yeah in all the free time I had."
They continued catching up, Elena had missed having someone around her age to talk to about things. Josh was one of the few people who didn't care that Elea was still not in her 20s and never treated her any different because of who she was. They fell back into the ease they use to have during long study nights.
"Well now that you're going to be a resident here in my city, I guess it's my obligation to show you around." He joked as they made their way back to her place.
"Oh well don't go doing me any favors Evert, I'm sure I could manage myself." He laughed and put his hands in his pockets while turning to walk in front of her, walking backwards so he was still facing her, "Your gonna fall asshole," she said, with no malice in her words.
He laughed and shook his head no, "You know what, now that I think about it I have to show you my city so I can show you how much better it is than stupid California," She laughed at that.
"I think you may have your work cut out for you." She said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Is that a challenge." He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You bet." She quipped back.
"Then it's date. You, me, and New York, the first weekend you have free when you move here." He said with a charming smile on his face.
"Yeah it's a date " She agrees, her tone light.
They had made it to the front lobby of the penthouse, as they went to say goodbye, Josh went in for a hug but was suddenly pulled backed. "Woah," He exclaimed not realizing how he was suddenly moving backwards, and Elle frowned when she saw Happy had been the one to grab Josh by the back of his jacket.
"Is this guy bothering you Ellie?" He asked in a stern tone.
She huffed, "Yea Happy, because when someone bothers me it's usually with a hug. That's exactly how that goes." She exclaimed throwing her hands in the air in disbelief, Happy still had Josh's jacket bunched in his fist, "Put him down Happy!" She ordered.
He dropped his jacket and put his hands in the air. "Okay. I'm going to be waiting for you by the elevator, watching, at all times." He put emphasis on watching as he stared down Josh.
"Sorry about him," she apologized again.
"No worries, he's got an important person to look after," he flirted. She rolled her eyes at him "Yeah my father, I promise when I move here it will be security free." She joked
"Promises, Promises Elle." He said smoothly. He quickly took her hand and shook it in a friendly manner, "Excuse me if I wait till then to get close, my face is too pretty to be pummeled." He quipped as he took a few steps away from her.
"eh," She shook her hand side to side, "It could do with some improvements." She joked. He nodded in defeat and held his hands against his heart as if to say he had been wounded. "I'll see you soon Elle."
"See you soon" she said softly.
She waited till he had exited the lobby before she turned with Remy and made her way to the elevator that Happy was waiting at, "He looks like trouble Ellie" He grumbled.
"You look like trouble Happy, since when do we grab people that hug?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought he was a crazy fan." He defended himself.
"I don't have crazy fans Happy, that's Dad. See this is why it would be boring to guard me." she told him with a smug smile on her face.
"Nice try Ellie," He toned, not believing for a second that people where not after Ellie. Happy read the magazines and had seen how the entertainment networks covered her. He was sure if their building wasn't so secure that a picture of Elena hugging that boy would have been on the front page of every tabloid in the morning. They were merciless and only ever wanted to find a flaw in Elena, it was part of his job to protect her from that.
After their awkward encounter, they rode the elevator in silence, and went to their separate rooms once reaching the penthouse. There were five spacious rooms there for guests and the Starks. This placed was hardly used by her and her dad. Usually only if there was a board of directors meeting did Tony ever come to the New York. Preferring the sunny laidback attitude of California.
Happy went ahead and order some pizza for them and they spent the night eating and playing mock poker. With their betting chips being pieces of pepperoni taken off of one of the pizzas. Remy laid contently at Ellie's feet as once and while she snuck him a piece of her hard-earned pepperoni.
Elena was enjoying a week away from everything, planning the next steps in her life. She had already secured furniture for her place, mapped out her route to work, and had even secured a dogwalker for Remy. She had sent the two of them out on a test run right now to make sure there wouldn't be any issues when the time came that Remy would really need the walker.
She had bought the scrubs for her program and had went to at least two more lunches with Dr. Palmer. She was excited to work and learn from her. Luckily there were no more run-ins with that asshole Stephen Strange. She was not looking forward to her neurology rounds when the time came, knowing he would probably make it a living hell.
Elena attributed her ability to get shit done to Pepper, she had learned from the best. She remembered days where she would just follow Pepper around with a crayon and notebook pretending to take notes and copy Pepper's movements as she went. Elena also recalled spraining her ankle at the age of 6 because she had tried to walk in Pepper's stilettos and had fallen quickly over on her ankle. Pepper was one of the best people in her life and she couldn't think of a better role model she could have had while growing up.
While Elena was cleaning up her breakfast from this morning, she heard the elevator ding indicating some was entering the apartment, assuming it was Happy back from his errand, Elena called out, "Hey Happy, I'm pretty set here, all I have to do is find a gym around my apartment and maybe a trainer and I should be good. I would say we could head home tomorrow." She called out as she finished brushing some crumbs into the sink.
"Well good we can plane pool then," A jovial voice that always sent chills up Elena's spine answered back. Elena whipped her head up to see that there in the kitchen stood Obadiah Stane. He was sporting his sports jacket unbuttoned, hands were resting on his hips, making his stance look bigger. In Elena's opinion this was a power move to make sure Obie looked like the biggest guy in the room by taking up the most space. He had a cigar sticking out of his mouth as he smiled at her through it.
There had always been a mutual distaste between Stane and her. Elena had always just tried to stay out of the way of her father's business partner. She also out of respect to her father, and her grandfather in part, never spoke of the weird feeling that she got whenever he was in the same room as her. Elena felt more exposed than ever standing in the kitchen with him, knowing that Happy was out, and Remy wasn't home with her.
"Obadiah what are you doing here?" She asked trying to keep the island between her and him. He mocked her movements in a nonchalant manner, "Meeting with some investors over this fall out from your father's announcement. An announcement that I hear you had a hand in helping," He said with a smile on his face but malice in his voice. Elena raised her head in defiance and respond. "Yeah guess you're not the only one he listens to anymore." She spoke hoping her voice eluded confidence.
He stepped closer, removing the stogie from his mouth and frowned at her for a second before donning that fake smile again, "And while I'm sure you're a genius, you know nothing about the business world Elena, and I would thank you to keep to what you know and stay out of your father's business." He growled out to her, shaking his cigar at her with his right hand.
"And I would thank you, to not smoke in my home. Also, my name is on the company so I would say it is my business." She quipped at him. Raising her eye level and not breaking contact from him.
"It's you father's home." He replied in a snarky tone implying he had the upper hand.
"My name is on the deed, so it is my home. And speaking of home don't you have your own penthouse in the city." She asked with an accusatory tone.
"Renovations." He replies, cigar back in his mouth and fully lit.
Elena gaining the confidence to round the island and stand near him spoke out to Stane, "How convenient, well again if you're staying in my house, the rules apply," She grabbed the cigar out of his mouth, walked back to the sink, and dumped water on it.
"That was expensive," he replied, his voice almost singing his annoyance with her. She shrugged, "I'm sure you can afford another one." The snark not missing from her tone as she dried off her hands.
As she went to exit the kitchen, Obadiah blocked her path, he stared down at her smirking at the difference in their height and grumbled, "I'm serious Elena stay out of the business or- "
Quick to respond she spoke "Or what? The way I see it, between the two of us only one is replaceable, and I'll give you a hint, it's not me." She said, full aggression bleeding through her tone, as she smacked his arm down and exited the kitchen.
Elena's breath quickly shuddered as she walked into her room free from Obadiah's presence. She heard a small shatter of glass and a shout coming from the kitchen she had left Obadiah in. She smirked, for once she had gotten to him like he usually got to her. She would have to thank Frank for the lessons he had given her, which had made her slightly bolder.