Author's Note: This chapter title comes from The Zahir by Paul Coelho.

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

Chapter Eight - Something has reached its end (it doesn't matter)

"Dad!"

Tony looked up from his machine and smiled as Danielle raced across the backstage. Behind her, Happy ducked in through one of the doors and offered him a helpless shrug. Tony tucked the machine away and grunted as Danielle slammed into her. "Well? Did you get your VIP look around before everyone else floods the EXPO presentations?"

"Yep." Danielle frowned, playing with the pockets on her dress. "I think my prototypes are pretty amateur in comparison. Don't you think that people are gonna say I only got a spot because of you?"

Tony laughed and put an arm around her, steering her towards the backstage exit. "That's ridiculous. CNS grafted prosthetics? No one is doing that. It's a breakthrough, Dani."

"You're right that no one is doing it. I'm not even doing it. Right now it's all theory and prototypes!"

Happy interrupted. "Here we go. Ready?"

Tony looked up through the doors. "Oh, boy. It's a zoo out there. So watch out."

Danielle sighed and nodded. "Got it."

Happy opened the door and instantly a flood of voices attacked her senses. She put on a tightlipped smile and stuck close to her father as Happy guided them through the crowd. Most everyone was focused on Tony—shouting questions and hellos and getting two or three word responses. But occasionally she would get someone yelling her name and shoving a microphone in her face. It was a good thing that she had perfected the word no. One taste of that sharp word and people usually forgot all about speaking to her.

As they approached the car, Happy began to talk about how it was the new model and all of its accessories when Tony interrupted. "Hey, does she come with the car?"

"I doubt it," Danielle said, cocking her head to the side. "Who are you?"

The woman glanced towards her and smiled politely. "Marshal."

Tony stepped forward, a hand on Danielle's shoulder to keep her still. "Do you mind telling me where you're from?"

"Bedford."

"What are you doing here?"

"Serving subpoenas." She held out a letter.

"Yikes."

Danielle glanced up, feeling her dad tense his hand on her shoulder. She smiled and held out her hand. "He doesn't like being handed things. He'll want to see the badge, though."

"The badge?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I like the badge," Tony said, taking the letter from Danielle. When the woman held out her badge, he took a moment to study it. Then he nodded. "Yep. That's it." He turned Danielle towards the car. "Thanks. Nice meeting you. Happy? How far are we from DC?"

"DC? 250 miles."

Danielle eyed him. "Do you have an internal GPS I need to know about?" she asked, climbing into the car. "'Cause that's pretty freaky."

"Uh-huh. I don't have to stay in the car with her the whole trip, do I?"

Tony started the engine. "Don't be like that. My daughter is a blessing to be around."

"It's a high-tech prosthesis. That is . . . that is . . . That's actually the most apt description I can make of it."

Danielle laughed and reached for the remote. After turning up the TV's volume, she returned to her machine. Her soldering iron hissed as she worked only to be interrupted.

"Meow?"

"Huh?" Danielle paused and glanced to the side. "Hey, silly. You need something?" She set her iron down and then turned back to her blueprints and notes. Picking up her pencil, she began to make changes. Bacon meowed in distress and swatted the pencil away. "Hey! I'm using that, you brat!" She bopped the cat on the nose. Bacon backed up and sneezed, sending Danielle into a fit of giggles.

"Let the record reflect that I observed Mr. Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance."

Danielle rolled her eyes at the Tv and then reached down to her bag beside the desk, digging through it for graph paper. She pulled out her notebook of graph paper and flipped through it. Bacon batted at her hair as she worked. Danielle frowned. "Aw, c'mon. It's full." With a groan, she tossed the notebook aside and got to her feet. "What do you think, Bacon? You think Dad'll have some?"

"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?"

Bacon meowed loudly.

"Right. Of course he would." She dropped to her knees and grunted with effort as she dragged Tony's suitcase out from under his bed. She unzipped it. "Graph, graph, graph," she murmured to herself, flipping the bag open. Then she stopped short, blinking at the little box of metal sitting atop everything else in the bag, the words Stark Medical Scanner engraved above the analog screen. Danielle frowned and picked it up.

Danielle turned it on and then took a deep breath. She pressed her thumb into the needle and felt it prick the skin. The screen blinked for a moment.

Blood Toxicity: 0%

She put her thumb in her mouth, sucking off the blood, and glanced back at the suitcase. Off to the side sat several labeled drink containers. Danielle leaned forward and dropped the scanner. She reached out and picked up a bottle.

"Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr. Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground."

Danielle wasn't sure when she'd started shaking, still studying the green word printed on the bottle: chlorophyll. She dropped the bottle and slapped her hand over her mouth as the first sob broke through.

"If you will direct your attention to said screens, I believe that's North Korea."

Danielle slumped back against the bed and buried her face in her hands, unable to stop the way her shoulders were shaking. She folded her arms around her knees. "Okay, okay, okay," she mumbled through her tears. "Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe. It just means, it just, it— God." She broke off with a cry.

"I think we're done is the point he's making. I don't think there's any reason—"

"The point is, your welcome, I guess."

Bacon bumped his head against her leg and Danielle looked down. "S-sorry, buddy. Didn't mean to freak you out." She gently pushed Bacon away and rubbed her eyes. "Okay. I've got this."

"I've successfully privatized world peace."

Danielle turned off the scanner and wiped off any trace of blood. She carefully put everything back where it'd been before and zipped the suitcase closed before shoving it back under the bed. "I, uh, I need a shower," she muttered, stubbornly ignoring her tears. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"You've been a delight."

The door opened and Danielle looked up, smiling like she could pretend to herself that she wasn't falling apart inside. "Hey, Daddy! You have fun annoying senators?"

He laughed, loosening his tie. "You know it. How's everything here?"

"Boring. I made a little progress, but got distracted by you making fun of Hammer." She rubbed her forehead.

"Hmm." He kicked off his shoes. "Sorry for distracting you. Headache?"

"Just a little."

"Ah. So you're not too grumpy to watch a crappy soap opera with me?"

She grinned. "Never too grumpy for that."

"Great!" Without warning, he shoved her playfully aside so he could get on the bed beside her. "Remote?" Once she'd handed it to him, he pulled her against his side and wrapped an arm around her. When she leaned her head against her shoulder with a sigh, he paused and looked down. "You okay, Dani?"

"Hmm?" She looked up. Then she smiled. "Yeah I'm great."

Bacon jumped up on the bed, meowing loudly. He climbed into Danielle's lap and curled up. Tony watched as his daughter played with the cat's tail. Then he leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Kick his ass, baby!" Tony yelled.

Happy glanced towards him. "That's not the type of behavior you should be encour—"

Danielle's gloved hand slammed into his face and Happy stumbled backwards. Danielle grinned, keeping her hands up in a defensive position. "Sorry, Haps," she said, laughing. "You good?"

"Am I good? You just sucker punched my face!"

"Notary's here!" Pepper called, entering the room with a stranger closer behind.

"Pepper!" Ignoring Happy's protest, Danielle climbed out of the ring.

Pepper sighed. "No, no, no. Don't—" When Danielle threw her arms around her, Pepper wrinkled her nose. "You're so sweaty. Gross. Stinky."

"Hmm. That's just the smell of progress," Danielle said, pulling back and putting her hands on her hips.

Tony got to his feet, leaning against the edge of the ring. "What's your name, lady?"

"Rushman," the redhead said. "Natalie Rushman."

Tony nodded, studying her. Then he motioned her forward. "Front and center. Come into the church."

Pepper sighed. "No. You're seriously not going to—"

"If it pleases the court, which it does."

Natalie smiled at Pepper. "It's no problem." She began taking off her heels.

"I'm sorry," Pepper said. "He's very eccentric."

As Natalie ducked into the ring, Tony took another swig of his drink and Danielle glanced away, knowing full and well it was chlorophyll. Tony said, "Happy, give her a lesson."

"You just have to harass my new PA, don't you?" Pepper muttered, following Tony off to the side.

Danielle only half paid attention to their conversation, watching the two in the ring. Happy was swinging his arms back and forth to keep warm. "You ever boxed before?"

"I have, yes," Natalie said easily.

"What, like, tae bo? Booty boot camp? Crunch? Something like that?"

Annoyance crossed over Natalie's face, but she was interrupted by Tony. "How do you spell your name, Natalie?"

She looked over her shoulder. "R. U. S. H. M. A. N."

"Rule number one," Happy said, hand up. "Never take your eyes off your opponent." He took a swing.

Natalie looked back and caught his hand easily. She jumped, legs around his head, and flipped him onto his back. Behind her, Danielle heard Pepper yell, "Oh, god, Happy!"

Happy coughed, climbing to his feet. "I just slipped."

"Slipped?" Danielle asked, laughing. "That was fucking awesome!"

"Language," Tony said, tapping her on the head. "That looked like a TKO to me, Happy." He reached out and rung the bell.

Natalie ducked out of the ring and straightened her shirt. "I just need your impression."

"You . . . have a quiet reserve. I don't know, you have an old soul."

Natalie took the binder from Pepper and opened it. "I meant your fingerprint."

"Right." As he did so, he glanced askance at Danielle when she laughed. Then he glanced up at Pepper. "You're the boss!"

"Great. We're done here, then. Natalie?" Pepper turned and left the room.

Danielle watched go with wide eyes. "That was awesome," she breathed. "Happy! Can you teach me to do that?"

Happy stripped off his gloves. "Nope. I'm done today. Completely done."

Danielle pouted. Then she began taking off her own gloves. "Fine. If you're really gonna be such a grump about it."

"About time you made it," Pepper said, smiling. She reached out and adjusted Danielle's necklace. "How'd you like the Rose Garden?"

"I liked it a lot," Danielle said with a grin. "We should put a garden in back at the house." When Pepper moved to do a once over on her hair, the girl knocked her hands aside. "I'm fine."

Pepper sighed. "Okay. Our table is back this way."

Danielle followed her and lit up when she saw who was by the table, looking over a clipboard. "Natalie!"

The redhead glanced at her and smiled. "Hello, Miss Stark."

"Mr Musk!" Pepper said, smiling at the man by the table. "How are you?"

"Hi, Pepper," he greeted. "Congratulations on the promotion."

"Thank you very much."

Tony clapped the man on the shoulder. "Elon, how's it going? Those Merlin engines are fantastic."

"Thank you. Yeah, I've got an idea for an electric jet."

Danielle's eyes widened. "Whoa. How are you solving the high combustion problem?"

"Well—"

"Anthony, is that you?"

Danielle glanced back to find them being approached by someone. She frowned. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Language," Tony sighed, tapping the top her head. "Justin Hammer."

"How you doing? You're not the only rich guy here with a fancy car. You know Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair?"

"I know her!" Danielle piped up, grinning. "She needs to work on her comebacks better."

Pepper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Danielle, please."

"Ah," Justin said. "Big story!" he told Christine. "The new CEO of Stark Industries."

Christine smiled. "I know, I know." She spoke over Justin as he tried to continue. "My editor would kill me if I didn't get a quote for our Powerful Women issue. Can I?"

Pepper blinked and then smiled. "Sure."

"How's this for a quote?" Danielle asked, grinning. She heard Pepper make a warning noise but ignored her. "A powerful woman knows she doesn't have to sell her body for a good story." She let her gaze flick to Christine's shirt, which had one button too many undone exposing the edge of her lacy bra. Then Danielle looked towards Justin Hammer, who had a smudge of pink lipstick matching Christine's near his ear.

"Danielle!" Pepper gasped.

Tony snorted and wound an arm around her shoulders. "I love you, kiddo," he said, laughing. Then he pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'll be back in just a bit, 'kay?"