Tony's Girls

By: InitialA

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Marvel universe.

—Sir, Miss Cleopatra requests that you, Miss Potts, and Miss Antonia step out on to the balcony.— JARVIS' voice echoed through the living room.

They looked up in surprise. Cleo had been working on her doctorate in Germany for the last two years. What would she want them on the balcony for? Tony eventually shrugged, and led the way. Outside, they looked around. "Why did she want us on the balcony?" Tonia asked, running her fingers through her hair in agitation.

Pepper pointed. A fiery streak was shooting through the sky, heading for the tower. "JARVIS…" Tony started.

—Miss Cleopatra says to stand back, her landing skills are very rusty and she does not wish to injure anyone.—

They scrambled backwards as the small missile crashed on the Iron Man suit landing pad. The disassembling mechanisms did not activate, and the missile straightened, revealing it as a more feminine-shaped suit. It reached up and removed the helmet, and Cleo shook out her close-cropped, sweat-soaked hair. "Whew. I think I broke Mach 1 over the Atlantic. What a trip!"

"Cleo!" Tonia rushed her sister, hugging her. "You should have warned us!"

"And ruin the surprise?" She grinned, and looked over her twin's shoulder. "Happy birthday, Daddy."

"Well, well. You finally made a suit," Tony grinned, coming up behind Tonia.

"I've been helping some other doctoral candidates with renewable energy studies, and got a few ideas… I completely overhauled your original designs."

"I look forward to seeing them."

"Actually…" Cleo didn't meet his eyes. "I can't show you them until Branson submits to the panel. He really helped me a lot in the prep work, and most of the groundwork was based on his ideas…"

"Do I have to pay the kid?" Tony asked, just as Pepper inquired, "Branson?"

Cleo smiled shyly, and Tonia shoved her. "If you're taking time out of studying for boys, at least tell me he's hot."

Tony frowned, a step behind his girls. Pepper rested a soothing hand on his shoulder to keep him calm as Cleo said, "I think he's cute, but it's the accent that does it. Swoon-worthy."

Tonia shoved her twin again. "Airhead."

"Have you taught the appliances in the MIT labs how to talk yet?" Cleo fired back.

"You have a boyfriend?" Tony demanded.

"Yes, and he's very nice, and smart. He wanted to come with me, but his suit isn't ready yet."

"You made him a suit?" Tony bellowed. "I spend twenty years keeping the Department of Defense off my ass and away from my suits, when my own daughter goes behind my back and builds one for some little prick she's made eyes at?"

Tonia was backing away, her skin paler than normal. In eighteen years, the girls had only heard their father bellow once, and they all remembered that incident with varying degrees of disgust, misery, and humiliation. This time, however, Cleo stood toe-to-toe with him, raising her chin to look him directly in the eye. "A suit of my own design that is weaponless; one that, if the need arises, I can have decommissioned and destroyed in under five minutes. It's locked away where he can't access it without my permission, and he hasn't seen the suit blueprints, only the power source ones that are based on his ideas. I'm not a child, Dad, I know what I'm doing."

They glared at each other unblinking, until Tony said, "You're too young for a boyfriend."

"Dad, I'm eighteen."

"You're the youngest grad student Dartmouth has had in years; don't tell me this kid is under twenty-five."

"He's twenty-six."

"That's a big gap."

"And the gap between you and Mom is…?"

"That's different," Tony started, his temper rising, but Pepper came between them. "Okay, okay. Let's just chill out here. Tony, Cleo came all this way to surprise you for your birthday, now is not the time to yell at her. Cleo, we'll discuss your college friends at another time."

"With Mom to mediate…" Tonia snickered. Cleo elbowed her; she yelped from the jab of metal.

"Let's go inside, and we can fight about dinner instead," Pepper beckoned, and Tonia followed.

Cleo clanked down the landing pad and past Tony, her helmet still under her arm. She was embarrassed to feel tears start to form, and just wanted to get to the lab to take off the suit so she could wipe them away. Tony's arm around her shoulders stopped her furious escape. He wiped a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm glad you're here, kiddo. And I'm proud of you."