The last time I had seen Stark Mansion, it had been undergoing tons of repairs by construction workers. Now it had emerged pristine and ship-shape, perfectly ready to take another beating. God forbid, I thought, walking up the driveway to the front door. Nobody needed that at this time of the year.

I took a good look at the interior of the house through the glass door before pressing the intercom. At once, my uncle's sentient AI butler responded.

"Welcome to the Stark residence. Please state your name and business."

I grinned. "Aww, come on Jarv, don't tell me you've forgotten me already…"

I thought I heard a slight note of humor in the AI's answer. "Just observing protocol, Miss Stark. Welcome back. And happy holidays."

"Happy happy," I said, as I opened the door and stepped into the foyer.

I inhaled the smells of whiskey, metal, expensive leather, and…Christmas? It's been way too long, I thought.

Quick background, for those who think 'the shits n' giggles' is not good enough reason for me to commute all the way down here for Christmas. Tony had invited me to spend the summer with him and his girlfriend, Pepper, as they opened the Stark Tower in New York. But my mom had been in between projects that summer, and she suggested a 'post-divorce girls' trip to Europe' instead, after her separation from my father had been finalized. And considering that she was actually eager to bond with me, and that I'd never been to Europe before, I jumped right on it.

In my absence, Tony joined a super-secret boy band and ended up saving the world from aliens.

Since then, Iron Man had made less and less public appearances, and I could tell what had happened had caused my uncle severe trauma. Not withstanding flying into a portal and nearly not coming back out, one of our friends- SHIELD agent Phil Coulson- had died in the battle. I had to come over here and make sure he was okay. Christmas break was the first chance I got.

"You know," came my uncle's voice, "I thought the plan was for me to go over to your Mom's place for the holidays…"

I turned and saw him emerge from the kitchen, a wine bottle in his hand. He stopped and looked at me. "Did I not get the memo?"

I grinned. "Christmas surprise!" I ran and hugged him.

"And consider me surprised," Tony said. "Welcome back, Isabella."

I wanted to ask him how he was, tell him I'd been so worried about him after the alien attack on New York, but before I could get any of that out into words, Tony spoke. "You've put on a few inches," he said, patting the top of my head, and I knew at that moment he did not want me to bring that topic up.

"And you've put on a few grey hairs," I said instead, glancing at his hair and beard.

"Eh." He straightened. "So, your old man let you come all the way here one week before Christmas?"

I grinned. "He might've let me…once I told him I was already on the Greyhound bus."

Tony barked with laughter. "Ha! You took it all the way from Chicago?"

"Straight from boarding school and then a cab from the station," I said. "It was actually kinda fun. Anyway…he's finishing work in New Jersey."

"Oh yeah, I think I might've heard something like that," said Tony. "So how is he?"

"He's got a girlfriend."

"Does he, now? She on the same IQ level as your mom?"

I smirked. "Not remotely. Couldn't even hold her own in a game of Mancala." That made Tony laugh.

"Anyway, enough about her…what about you?" I asked him. "I haven't heard word of Iron Man in months. I hope you've still been keeping busy."

"You have no idea," he said excitedly.

"Mr. Stark has not slept in the past eighty hours," JARVIS supplied.

I stared. "Really?"

"For a good reason though," he said. "Come on, I wanna show you something."