Author's Note: This chapter title comes from The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

I give you the fourth installment of But Iron, Cold Iron.

Chapter Four - He thought Two Thoughts (anything can happen)

The notes were traitorously steady in comparison to the way her fingers trembled against the keys. She fumbled and the minor chord clashed harshly with the rest of the song, holding out long after everything else quieted. Danielle took a shaky breath and retraced her steps to where she went wrong. The notes faltered again and she frowned, snatching up her pencil. She erased some of her notes and began editing it.

"What's this?"

She jumped, elbow slamming down into the piano keys. "Fuck! When did you get back?"

Tony tapped sharply on her forehead. "Language, Dani. And just now. I said hi when I came in. Did you not hear me?"

Danielle stared past him at the front door. "No," she mumbled. "Must not've. Sorry."

Tony nudged against her shoulder and, after she shifted over, he sat down on the bench next to her. He fitted his hands over the higher keys and then looked at her until she did the same with the lower ones. He began to play Moonlight Sonata and she smiled, following along. Every once in awhile, he forgot a note or his fingers slipped to the wrong keys.

"So," Danielle murmured. "What were you talking to Rhodey about? Can I know?"

He took his hands from the keys and listened as she kept playing. "Love you, kiddo. But not today." He got to his feet.

She sighed and scooted back over to the middle of the bench. "Okay." She rearranged the sheet music she'd been working on and cleared her throat. She began hesitantly playing again. "You look bothered, though. Whatever it was, Rhodey disagreed?"

Tony ran his fingers through her ponytail. With a sigh, he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "This is a pretty piece. Where'd you get it?"

She paused her playing and her gaze dragged back to the beginning. "I'm working on writing it." She started over.

"I like it. You should record it when you're done. It would be nice to listen to." He kissed her cheek and then dug his fingers into her side. She squealed and tried to wiggle away. "Dinner?"

Danielle pouted at him, arms wrapped around her middle. "That was unfair!"

He wandered over to the kitchen, chuckling. "C'mon, Dani. If you don't help, I'm just gonna burn some pasta and serve it to you."

"You're not that bad."

"You'd be surprised. I almost burned down my dorm at MIT."

Her smiled dropped. Without a word, she got to her feet and shuffled over to the kitchen. As she washed her hands, she asked, "Do you want me to go there? MIT?"

"You're too good for MIT. They wouldn't know what to do with a brain like yours. I want you to figure out what's best for you."

"JARVIS, you up?"

"For you, Sir, always."

"How's Dani doing?"

"Danielle has been asleep for two hours now and shows no signs of distress, which I believe is a new record since your disappearance, Sir."

Tony flinched. "Right. Keep me updated on that." He cleared his throat and tiredly dragged his hand through his hair. "I'd like to open a new project file, index as Mark II." He waves his hands and watched as his computer came to life in front of him.

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?" JARVIS asked as the file appeared off to Tony's left.

"Actually, I don't know who to trust right now. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server."

"Working on a secret project, are we, Sir?"

"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands. Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good."

"I understand, Sir."

"Music, please."

AC/DC began blasting and Tony got to work designing. His eyes began to drag and even though his back and feet were aching he refused to stop. He needed this. He couldn't just stop.

"Sir."

He looked up sharply. "What, JARVIS? I swear, if you try to tell me that I need to sleep, I just might—"

"I was not, Sir, though I would be the first to admit that sleep would do you some good. You asked to stay updated on Danielle's status. But if you are no longer concerned, then—"

"What is it?"

"She's woken herself from a nightmare and is currently in the gym."

Tony frowned, already turning towards the workshop door. "Thought you said she was sleeping fine."

"As of three hours ago, yes, that was the case. She became agitated about fifteen minutes ago right before waking."

"Thanks, J." Tony jogged up the stairs, rubbing his eyes. The door to the gym was cracked open when he got there and Metallica was spilling out into the hallway. He pushed open the door to find Danielle running on the treadmill across the room. "JARVIS, pause music."

The music stopped and Danielle glanced back, still running. She reached out and slowed the treadmill until she was at a more gentle jog and Tony moved across the room to stand by her. "Can't sleep, kiddo?"

"No," she said simply. "And you haven't slept at all." Her words were a little breathy and she stretched her arms out as she jogged.

"Has JARVIS been keeping tabs on me for you?" Tony asked, leaning on the treadmill railing and squinting at her.

With a sigh, she finally slowed into her cool down. "Well, you still won't talk to me about what happened. So yes, I am."

Tony hummed at that, glancing at the treadmill screen. He arched an eyebrow. "A mile an a half?"

"I've gotten faster," she said simply, snatching up the hand-towel hanging over the railing and wiping her face. "Are you ready to talk, then?" "Dani—"

"You promised."

"I did, didn't I?" He took a deep breath. "Alright, fine. JARVIS?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Get some coffee started, would you? Dani's gonna take a shower and then we're gonna have a . . . talk."

The treadmill finally stopped and Danielle stepped down, smiling in a way that just seemed to deepen the circles under her eyes. "Thank you."

By the time Tony's second pot of coffee finished brewing, Danielle was on the couch, pulling her wet hair back into a braid. He sat down next to her and waited for her to finish. When she did, he passed the second cup of coffee to her. "Where would you like me to start?"

She took a sip of the steaming drink and looked up at him. "The convoy."

Her music was interrupted by a loud thump from the floor below her. Danielle's fingers fumbled and she hit the wrong cord. "JARVIS?" she asked, looking up with a frown. "What was that?"

"Sir is working in his workshop."

"That doesn't—" Danielle groaned and pushed herself to her feet. "Is he doing something stupid again?"

"I suppose that depends on your definition."

Danielle took the stairs and stopped in front of the glass wall looking into the workshop. She stared. "Um, JARVIS, what's that?"

"That would be Sir's latest project. I believe he's referring to it as the Mark II."

She pressed her hand against the panel and the door unlocked with a click. "Dad?" she asked, stepping through the doorframe.

He glanced over from where he was standing on a slightly raised platform. "Oh, hey, kiddo." He rubbed the side of his face, which was a little red with a tint of blue. "Came to see what your old man was up to?"

"Something like that." She approached him, studying the boots and gauntlets he was wearing. "Are those . . . ."

"The beginnings of my updated and improved version of the suit that got me out of Afghanistan? Yes." He held out his hand and she took it, turning it this way and that as she studied the design. "They just need a bit of tweaking to really get going."

She looked up, clutching the gauntlet tightly. "Can I help?"

"Sure. Why don't you take the fire extinguisher from DUM-E for now? He doesn't seem to understand what a fire is, the idiot."

Danielle giggled and took the extinguisher. She patted the robot. "Aw, I'm sorry, DUM-E. He doesn't mean that."

"Yes, I do." Tony turned towards the camera and cleared his throat. "Alright, let's start it off a little slower. How about 7% lift capacity." The propulsion practically exploded, sending Tony careening backwards into a table. He groaned. "Well, that didn't work."

"Oh, hold on," Danielle said, stepping forward. "You've got a little somethin'." She sprayed him with the extinguisher foam. "Whoops! That just made it worse!" She giggled.

Tony sputtered. "Hey!"

She dropped the extinguisher. "Uh-oh," she said, laughing. "That just made him angry. Quick, DUM-E! Run!"

"Too late!" Tony snatched her into his arms and smashed a handful of foam in her face. "There! That's better!"

"Rude!" she pouted, snatching up the extinguisher again. She wriggled out of his arms and turned, pointing it at him. "Hands up!"

"Don't you do it," he warned her. "Don't do it."

Danielle grinned. "Too late!"

"It worked!" Danielle squealed, bouncing up and down. "U, did you get that on camera? JARVIS, save those specs! We finally got it!"

Tony grinned, wobbling for a moment as he lowered back to the ground. He landed loudly and stumbled. "Would you look at that, kiddo. It worked! Now that the flight stabilization is smoothed out, we can start on the body armor." He stepped back over to the workshop table and began slipping off the gauntlets.

"Sir," JARVIS said. "Ms. Potts is attempting to contact you."

"Put her through."

"Tony?" Pepper said, voice now coming through JARVIS's systems. "Obadiah's here. He wants to talk. What do you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him I'll be right up," Tony said, sighing and struggling out of the boots. "Do you know what he wants?"

"No idea."

Tony wiped the sweat from his face with a towel. "Alright, we better go see what Obie wants."

Dani frowned, setting down her clipboard and pen. "But what about the suit?"

"It'll be here when we get back." He tugged on one of her pigtail braids. "Let's go." He led the way up the stairs. "Obie! How'd the meeting go?"

Obadiah glanced at him, setting a pizza box on the coffee table. He stepped back as Danielle instantly made a beeline for it, grinning. Tony frowned. "That bad, huh?"

"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad. Maybe I just brought it for the kid's birthday." Obadiah dropped a wrapped parcel on the table beside the pizza box. "Have at it," he told her.

Danielle wiped the pizza grease off of her hands with her oil-stained shirt, barely paying attention to the conversation as she pulled the wrapping paper off the gift. "Whoa! Cool! I was thinking about getting these. These are amazing!" She put the headphones on and sighed at how comfortable they were, turning towards Obadiah and Tony. Neither of them were paying attention to her, arguing about something—what, she wasn't sure. Danielle frowned, taking the headphones off.

"We own the controlling interest in the company!"

"Tony, the board has rights too. They're making the case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest."

"I'm being responsible! That's a new direction for me, for the company! I mean me, on the company's behalf, being responsible for the way that— This is great." Tony groaned, digging his hands in his hair and turning away.

"C'mon, Tony. Tony!"

"I'll be in the shop."

"Hey, hey!"

"Obie?" Danielle asked curiously, getting to her feet. She waited for him to face her, turning the headphones over in her hands. "I thought the company couldn't do anything without Dad agreeing."

"The real world doesn't work that way, Danielle." He glanced back at where Tony had gone. "You wouldn't happen to know what your father's working on down there, would you?"

"Nothing for Stark Industries," she said, smiling tightly.

"You're a clever one," Obadiah said, moving past her towards the door. "Happy birthday. Out of curiosity, what did Tony get you?"

"A violin," she said, lifting her chin. "I'll probably wear the headphones so I don't hear myself messing up too much when I first start learning out to play it."

He chuckled. "Smart kid. Hey, keep an eye on your dad for me, will you?"

She faltered. "Um, yeah. Of course."

"Good. I'll show myself out."

Danielle stared after him as he left. Then she set the headphones down on the table and picked up the pizza box. "Hey, JARVIS?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Dad's hungry?"

"Sir has not eaten in thirteen hours, so I would assume he is, even if he doesn't realize it."

"Uh-huh. It's pepperoni. He likes pepperoni."

The ceiling broke just a heartbeat before the piano shattered beneath her fingers. She screamed as the floor bent beneath her and scrambled backwards over the piano bench. The seat toppled and she hit the floor hard, lungs constricting. Danielle stared at the new hole in the floor.

"Dad?" she rasped. "Oh my— Dad!"

She scrabbled for something to grab on to and hauled herself to her feet. "Dad!" she yelled, almost falling down the stairs in her rush. "Daddy!" Danielle slammed the door open and slid to a stop, staring at the crushed sports car and the suit of armor dragging itself up from it. "Daddy! Oh my god! What happened!" She stumbled to a stop, knees bumping harshly against the twisted metal. "Dad?"

"Whoa, whoa, I'm okay, kiddo," he gasped out, fumbling for a moment before managing to lift the faceplate. "Think I just," —he winced— "maybe bruised my ribs."

"Did you . . . ." She looked up at the hole in the ceiling. "Do you fly it? You didn't tell me you were gonna fly it today!"

He struggled to his feet and began removing the armor. "I kinda figured why not?"

"Why not?" She pointed at the crushed car as he walked away. "That's exactly why not! That, that—"

"Hey, breathe, Dani. Look, I'm okay." He spread out his arms so she could see him. "It's called armor for a reason."

She took a long, shaky breath and rubbed her eyes. "You're okay," she echoed. "You're okay, you're okay."

Tony smiled sadly and stepped over to her. "I'm okay," he promised. "And hey, our little pet project managed to fly!"