Nothing major happened for the next few years, which allowed Tony to relish in watching his daughter grow up. Ellie had gotten a boyfriend during 11th grade, which caused Tony to go into his protective father mode, but they, unfortunately, broke up before her senior year, since he was moving away. Meanwhile, Ellie and Pepper helped Tony work on Stark tower over spring break, but that was a week ago and now Tony was back in California, waiting in his lab for his 17-year-old daughter to get home. 'Ellie's 17', Tony thought. It still baffled him on how fast she grew up.
At this moment, Ellie walked through the front door of the mansion with the mail from the post office. Happy would have normally done it, but since Ellie had gotten her driver's license and received one of Tony's cars as a gift for her 16th birthday, she tended to do it herself. Especially today. Today was the day she was going to find out if she got into the college of her dreams.
Harvard.
She really wanted to go, and everybody knew she would get in. She was a Stark after all and had been considered a genius since she was 13. Though, Ellie wanted to attend Harvard for their Criminal Justice Program, which no one saw coming. Especially not Tony. He always thought his child would go to MIT like him and work with computers for the rest of their lives, but he was wrong when it came to Ellie. Although he supported her and agreed that Harvard was a wonderful school, he still asked her to apply to MIT. She did and got in, but made it clear that if she got into Harvard, she was going to Harvard.
Ellie dropped her backpack on the floor by the door and placed the mail on the kitchen counter. She grabbed the big white package with the Harvard logo written on the top. She opened it quickly and located the letter.
"Dear Ms. Stark, I am delighted to inform you that the Committee on Admissions has admitted you to the Class of 2016!" Ellie read out loud to herself in excitement. The next thing she did was rush down to her dad's lab, where she knew he would be, with the letter in hand.
Tony was startled as Ellie ran into the lab and wrapped her arms around his shoulder while he sat down at his desk. "Ellie, not that I don't appreciate the hug but-"
"I got in!" Ellie cut him off and shoved the letter in his hand. "I got into Harvard dad!" Ellie exclaimed as her father read over the letter. Her dad laughed happily, despite the sadness of her not going to MIT, as he stood up and hugged his daughter.
"I'm so proud of you." Tony grinned as he kissed the top of her head.
"Thanks, dad." Ellie giggled and pulled away from him. She took the letter and smiled. "Ok, now I have to go, call mom, I'll be right back." He watched as his daughter ran back upstairs then fell into his desk chair with a small smile on his face.
"College doesn't time fly." He mumbled to himself before going back to work as Ellie called her mother to tell her the good news.
September 3, 2012
Pepper and Tony helped Ellie unpack her boxes into her dormitory at Harvard. Now it was just time to say goodbye, which both parents were dreading. Tony saw how perfectly she fit in here and was happy she was happy. Ellie turned to her parents and sighed, realizing it was time for them to go and for her to be on her own.
"Well, I'm going to miss you," Her mother said and pulled her into a hug. "Call if you need us and keep me informed on how you're doing in your classes." Pepper pulled away, her eyes glossy with tears. "You're free to come by the tower whenever you want."
"I know mom." Ellie acknowledged and Pepper smiled cupping her daughter's cheek.
"I love you." Pepper expressed with a smile.
"I love you too," Ellie replied and felt her own tears starting to form. Pepper then left to give Tony and Ellie some privacy while they said goodbye.
Ellie looked at her dad and he gave her a smile. "You know, I remember the day your biological mother gave you to me. I thought that I wasn't good enough to be your father, but when your little hand grabbed my finger," Tony grabbed his daughter's hand. "I knew everything was going to be ok, as long as I have you in my life." Ellie was on the brink of tears and so was Tony. Any moment now, one of them were bound to start balling their eyes out. "Now look at you, in college...I can never express how proud I am of you. How lucky I am to be your father." Ellie threw her arms around her dad's neck as he pulled her as close as possible to him. They stayed like that in the bittersweet silence.
"I'm going to miss you, Dad," Ellie whispered.
"I'm going to miss you too, lighting bug," Tony puled and she giggled at her nickname while tears began to make their way down her cheeks. They pulled away, and Tony wiped Ellie's tears away. "Call if you need anything, make sure to visit during Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, and Summer, and always feel free to come to the lab and run any simulations you want."
"I will, dad. I will." Ellie assured him.
"Ok," Tony muttered, then kissed her forehead and brought her into another hug. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, dad," Ellie said as she clung onto her dad. After a minute or two, they pulled away and Tony gave her one more proud smile before leaving her dorm room.
October 20th, 2012
"Hey, Ellie!" One of her roommates called out from their living room. Ellie groaned as she pulled her nose out of her textbook and made her way to the living room.
"What, Liz, I'm a bit busy-" Ellie stopped talking when she saw what was on the news. Her father's tower with a blue light shooting into the sky. Creatures invading New York. "Dad," Ellie muttered as she watched the battle on TV. "Um-" Liz looked at her roommate when she heard her phone ringing. "I'll be right back."
Ellie ran into her room and saw her dad calling and answered immediately. "Daddy?" Ellie asked scared.
"Hey, sweetheart," Tony said.
"Where are you?" She asked. "I was watching the news, and there this blue light coming from the tower-"
"I know, Ellie, I know," Tony said. "I'm trying to stop it."
"What do you mean?"
"I love you, Ellie," Tony said and Ellie went back to the TV to see her dad flying something towards the black hole.
"Dad, what are you doing?" She asked.
"I love you."
"Dad, what's happening?" Ellie replied and then the call dropped as she watched her dad fly into the hole. "Dad?" Liz looked at her roommate worriedly and pitifully. "DAD!" Ellie screamed into her phone before pulling it away and seeing that the call had ended.
〜〜〜
It had been two hours since the battle ended, and Ellie hadn't heard from her dad yet. I didn't say it back, Ellie repeated in her head, I didn't say it back. She was pacing in her bedroom until she saw her door open and turned towards it. There he was. Her dad, in all his glory. She ran towards him and held him in a bone-crushing hug. But, before he could answer any of her questions, the first thing she said to him was, "I love you too, dad."
September 22nd, 2013
I was sitting in my dorm, flicking through the TV, and saw a headline cross over the screen "Stark Issues Threat" and her home in California began shown. She let out a small scream as she watched the Mansion get hit and crumble to pieces. She then grabbed her phone and called her dad. It took three tries before he answered. "Dad? Dad? Are you ok? Is mom ok?" She asked her dad.
"Yes, we're both fine don't worry," Tony answered. "We're ok, although the house isn't looking too great." Ellie laughed as her father reassured her that he and Pepper were safe. Little did she know, he wasn't even at home and was using the remaining battery of his suit to make this call. But that was one thing Tony would keep from her till the day he died.
March 2nd, 2014
Ellie walked into the small cafe, where the email she had received earlier that day said to meet and saw an older man. He wore an eyepatch and gave her a calculating look as she walked in, which caused her to sit down with him. "Hello, I'm-"
"Eleanor Stark." The man said. "The name's Fury and I work with your dad."
"Is that why you called me here? Is there something wrong with him?" Ellie asked worriedly. At the end of last year, her dad managed to get the rest of the scrap metal out of his chest, so he wouldn't need the reactor anymore. But, he continued to be Iron Man and she slowly started to notice the strain it put on her parents.
"No, nothing's wrong with him." Fury answered. "I'm here to offer you a job with S.H.I.E.L.D, or specifically, the Avengers."
"What kind of job?" Ellie asked.
"Interrogation." Fury replied as he pulled out a file. "Your file says you managed to finish a three-year law course at Harvard, in two." Ellie blushed and looked down at her hands. "I'm not at all surprised considering who your father is, but you have the perfect ranks to join our organization."
"But what does this have to do with the interrogation?" Ellie asked.
"Well, long story short, your job will be to interrogate the people your father and his friends bring in for information. But because you're working for Avengers, we will need to also train you, in case something were to happen." Fury glanced down at your file. "I think I'll have Natasha train you, I feel like it will be nice for you to have a familiar face."
"What?" Ellie asked and Fury put a photo of Natasha on the table. Ellie was shocked, to say the least when she saw the redhead who had pinned Happy down when she was 14 in the photograph. "Okay," She passed back the photo, realizing she probably didn't have a say in who trained her. "Does my dad know you're offering me this job?"
"No," Fury answered. "I would prefer to keep it that way for a little while." Ellie nodded as she began to process the information that was given to her. Ellie stared at Fury for a while. This was the opportunity she had always wanted, but that also meant she would have to lie to her dad for god knows how long. "Well, will you be joining us?"
"Yes, yes I believe I will."