Who is Annabelle Cooper? – 15,702 hits

"The elusive Annabelle Cooper hasn't been since revealing that she is in actual fact the illegitimate daughter of none other than Tony Stark. It's unclear whether she is currently living in the Avengers' Tower with Mr Stark and the rest of Earths Mightiest Heroes or if she has managed to sneak out under our reporters' watchful eyes."

Annabelle Cooper or Annabelle Stark? – 12,459 hits

"Is this all just about money? Is it just a play to get her hands on the Stark family fortune? Is there any actual evidence supporting her claims? The question still of everyone's minds is – who is she?"

Tony Stark's secret daughter – 96,964 hits

"I get it, I do. She wasn't even an adult when she discovered who her biological father was. She'd lost her mother and, unprepared, suddenly found this whole new world thrust upon her. Think back to when you were a teenager – can you honestly say you would have been able to adapt to such a big transition so easily?"

"There's giving a grace period, understandably, but six years is a long time to deny you have a child."

Tony Stark ashamed of daughter? – 200,183 hits

"There's a few rumours circulating that Tony 'Iron Man' Stark fought to keep the whole thing a secret to avoid tarnishing the reputation he'd spent the last half a decade to make for himself. Let's face it; he'd finally managed to undo the mess created by Obadiah Stain in 'oh eight, he was in a stable relationship for the first time in, well, who knows? Finding out he had a teenage daughter he claims he didn't know about?"

"You think he knew?"

"How can a man in his position not know?"

"There's a lot that hasn't been said and quite frankly, regardless of who they are, they're still entitled to privacy and I think now is the time that people learn to respect that."

"How long have you been sitting in here?"

Tony's voice rang out in the silence of Annabelle's private lounge. She didn't jump at the sound, as if she knew already that he was there, instead she stayed looking at the now blank TV screen. Since the press release she'd done on her parentage, there had been countless news segments on her, on Tony and even some of the sparse information they could find on her mother. She had watched every single one of them on repeat. Annabelle sniffed and pulled the blanket covering her up to her neck, letting the discarded TV control fall to the floor.

"Will they ever stop?"

Tony came over and sat on the end of the couch, pulling her blanketed feet on to his lap, rubbing circles into her ankles. He stayed quite for a moment, not wanting to be too harsh. He finally sighed.

"Probably not," he tugged the blanket away from where Anna groaned and tried to hide her face. "It'll die down eventually, but as soon as you step outside it'll start again."

"How do you cope with it?" Annabelle asked, shifting away and sitting with her knees to her chest. She buried her head in her hands, her voice coming out muffled. "The things they're saying about you, me… about mom…"

Tony sighed. "I've had to deal with this since I was born." Anna moved her hands away and glared at him. He raised his hands, realising that that probably wasn't the best thing to say. "It takes time, but eventually you learn to brush it off and ignore it."

"Will I?"

"Yes, you will. In a few days they'll find something new to move on to and this whole thing will be yesterday's news." Anna had her head back in her hands and Tony decided he'd had enough of her wallowing in self-pity. He tore the blanket away from her, throwing it to the floor. She looked at him in shock as he stood in front of her, holding out a hand. "Come on."

"Excuse me?"

Tony rolled his eyes and took Anna's hands in his own, yanking her up. She stumbled in to him, her feet having been caught under her. Tony instantly pulled her in to a hug, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close and kissing her hair. She melted in to his touch, gripping on to him as if her life depended on it. Tony felt his heart break a little for her. In the week since she's announced herself as his daughter, she hadn't been able to leave the tower without being bombarded by reporters and their cameramen. After two days, she'd just stopped leaving, choosing instead to remain on her floor, only venturing upstairs when Tony or Pepper demanded she join them for dinner. Her floor wasn't even her floor until after the press conference. On the rare occasion that she did stay in the tower (and rare they were), she would always occupy the guest room on Tony and Peppers private floor. It was only the night of her birthday that Anna had admitted to him that she had been thinking of the possibility of moving in to the tower with him, if that was okay. Tony's eyes had brightened and he'd instantly pulling her by the arm, instructing JARVIS to take them down by two floors. Once there, he'd told her to press her palm to the keypad by the door and instantly the doors opened, revealing an entire floor kitted out to her needs, all that was needed was her own personal touch. Anna shifted in his arms, sniffing.

"Where are we going?"

Her voice was quiet and muffled against his chest and Tony's heart ached for her. He'd gotten to a point in his life where he had learnt not to care what the press said about him, it came after years upon years of showing himself in a less than savoury light. This wasn't something he wanted for her.

He released her, holding her at arm's length. "To get lunch." Her eyes widened slightly but Tony shook his head at her. "Now everyone knows, I want to finally show the world my daughter."

"But –" Anna started, pulling away from Tony, only for the man to cut her off with a groan and a roll of the eyes.

"Anna, the longer you stay hidden away, the more the vultures will dig their talons in."

Anna raised an eyebrow at his whining. "Okay, Dad," she said, patting him gently on the forearm and gesturing towards her room. "But I was only trying to say I need to change."

Tony looked her up and down briefly before shrugging. "Why? You look fine."

Anna looked down at herself. She was wearing a mix of two different pyjama sets and thick, fluffy red socks. She rolled her eyes at Tony, gesturing a hand at herself. "I'm wearing Iron Man pants and a Hulk tank top. The reporters will have a field day snapping me walking the streets showcasing my father's band of merry men upon my person."

"Point taken," he said, releasing her arms. She moved off towards her bedroom before he backtracked. "Band of merry men? Come on, sweetpea – 'Earth Mightiest Heroes'."

"Keep telling yourself that, Tony." Anna turned to grin at him as she sped up a little, putting more distance between them.

"Why you little…"

Tony advance on her, running around the couch. Anna responded by sprinting towards her room, but Tony was too fast for her. He caught her round the middle, tickling her sides. She shrieked in laughed until she couldn't breathe.

"Alright, alright – stop it!" Her tears had turned in to those of laughter and she fought to control her breathing, gasping as she spoke. "I'm sorry, you're all very mighty."

Tony nodded in agreement, releasing her and stepping back, checking his watch. "Meet you downstairs in twenty?"

"Forty-five," Anna said instantly, standing straight and holding her sides. She looked up to find Tony staring incredulously at her, as if she'd spoken a foreign language. She rolled her eyes at him. "What? I gotta shower."

Tony rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he left. "Women."

"Tony Stark and daughter, Annabelle Cooper, were all smiles today as they left Avengers Tower, seemingly confirming rumours that she is indeed living there. It's the first time either of them has been seen since two days after Miss Cooper publicly announced that Mr Stark was in actual fact her father. Sources positioned within close proximity to the tower have reported that the two were engaging in light-hearted conversation and appearing oblivious to the crowd around them as they got in to a car and driven away by Mr Stark's personal driver, Happy Hogan."

Hi Guys! So I know this chapter is really short by my standards (I haven't written a single chapter under 3000 words for this fic) but I felt that I just needed a little filler before moving on to the rest of the story.

As per, please like and review!

Courtney xx