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Chapter Nine

I dropped Clint off at the hotel he was staying at and I drove home. After talking with him I felt better and decided that I at least owed Pepper an apology for walking out and staying out way too late. If she was even still here, it was edging on three in the morning.

I parked my car and walked inside and smiled softly as I saw Pepper still in the kitchen.

She looked up at me as I threw my keys on the counter.

"Hey sweetie," Pepper said as I took a seat on the counter.

"Hey Pepper," I replied just as softly. I was worried about her reaction, we hadn't been alone together since I called her mom and then I just stormed out. "I'm sorry," I said bluntly.

Pepper walked over to me and gave me a hug. "You have nothing to be sorry for," she said.

"I do," I said returning the hug. "I just walked out and I've been gone all night without calling you."

Pepper just rubbed my back. And I pulled away. "I'm fine," I said. "Granted it took me-," I looked at the clock, "like five hours, but I'm fine now."

"Why don't you come and stay with me for a while?" Pepper asked.

"Really?" I asked. "Pepper you don't have to-"

"Listen," Pepper said. "I know how you get so in your head sometimes, so listen. I love you Scarlett and it's not because I'm on your dad's bankroll. It's because I love you. I think of you as my daughter not my boss's daughter."

"So its ok that I called you mom?" I asked. "Because it just slipped out and I'm really embarrassed about it."

"Don't be," Pepper said. "Now, let's go. It's way past your bed time, missy."

I laughed and ran to my room to grab some clothes and came back into the kitchen.

"Ready," I said.

Pepper nodded and we headed out; I was turning eighteen in two weeks but I was happy that Pepper invited me over for a few days, I was still a kid and even though I was going to be a legal adult I knew that I wasn't ready to be on my own. I didn't want to be on my own.

"So where did you go?" Pepper asked. "Peter is still in New York and I don't think you have any other friends."

"I was with Clint, my physical trainer, he is a really good friend and he helped me." I offered.

"With what?"

"With what I'm going to do. I've spent so many years working on the arc reactor; I already have several college degrees. And now that everything has settled, I needed to know what to do."

"So what's your plan?" Pepper asked as we turned into her parking garage.

"I'm going to move to New York," I said looking out of the window. "Go back to college with Peter, take some history courses, maybe a humanity course or two."

"That sounds like fun," Pepper said.

"Yeah, I want to take a few years for myself and then once I'm twenty one maybe I'll come back and work on the arc reactor some more," I said.

"You would take a few years off?" Pepper said.

"Yeah, I still own all of the copyrights and everything so I don't need to worry about Dad swooping in and taking off with it," I said.

We finally found a spot and Pepper whipped into it.

We got out and made our way to her apartment.

I walked in and saw the old arc reactor sitting on the counter of her kitchen.

"Why do you have this?" I asked as I picked it up and played with it.

"It's my daughter's first successful arc reactor," Pepper said. "Thought she would maybe want to keep it."

I smiled and nodded as I slipped it into my bag. "I think I have an idea for it."

"Well I know that it's going to be perfect," Pepper said.

There was a moment of silence between the two of us.

"You can take the guest room," Pepper said.

I nodded and took a deep breath before my courage failed and launched myself at Pepper and wrapped my arms around her. "Thank you," I said.

"Anytime sweetie," Pepper said. "Now, I'm going to go to Stark Industries tomorrow, are you coming?"

"No," I shook my head. "I have a physical therapy session, plus I just left Max over there. Could you just put down that Dad has a super important meeting on the twenty fourth at seven?"

Pepper smiled and nodded towards the bed.

I walked to the guest bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

Morning came too soon and I made my way over to my house.

Max was upset that I had ditched him so I decided to take him for a walk along the beach line.

Once we had returned he walked over to his bowl of water and collapsed.

"Oh you big baby," I teased him as I sat on the chair at the kitchen island.

Max just barked and laid his head back down.

I picked up my phone and found the number I was looking for, I called and set up a meeting. I had the perfect idea for what I was going to do with the old arc reactor and I needed help from a professional.

I rolled my eyes and swung back and forth while I waited for Clint to show up.

My back had been acting up recently so I mentioned it in passing last night and he arranged another meeting today. Granted, I did exactly what Clint said not to at the very first meeting we had, I felt a little bit better so I acted like I was one hundred percent again.

And I knew that the moment that I said anything about it the first thing out of iBg Bird's mouth was going to be "I told you so".

I heard the door open, and I swirled my chair around.

"Well, let yourself in," I called to Clint.

"Well, it is my house," I heard my dad say as he walked into kitchen.

I paled. I hadn't heard or said anything to him since our little fight. Well, honestly our first fight. I didn't know how to handle this, did I say I was sorry? Do I just ignore it and pretend it didn't happen?

Do I just follow his lead?

"I was expecting someone else," I said.

"Someone else to walk into my house?" my dad asked.

"Yep," I said popping the p.

"Care to share?" my dad asked sitting in the chair next to me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, questioning whom I was having over? Besides Peter I haven't ever invited someone over here. But what the hell, I decided to follow his lead.

"My physical therapist," I said. "I have another appointment today."

My dad nodded, but he didn't say anything else.

Five minutes passed, ten minutes, until I heard a knock on the door.

I hopped off the chair and rushed over to the front door.

"Finally," I said.

I followed him to the door and opened it.

"Is everything ok?" I asked him.

"I could ask you the same question," he said. "What happened last night?"

"I went to Pepper's," I answered him. "This is the first time I have seen him since."

We went through my routine of stretches, we talked about nothing seriously but we kept up the chit chat, I could vaguely hear my dad in the kitchen, doing what I have no idea.

Once we were done and I got a stern lecture from Clint about no more running and I needed to get at least seven hours of sleep a night.

I walked him to the door and he turned around and looked at me.

Clint hummed and nodded his head "I'm serious, Scarlett," he said, all the humor and fun drained from his eyes. "Take it easy, whatever is going on with your dad and your company is dangerous."

"How can I leave it?" I asked. "If something is going on it has to stop."

"And it will, we know your dad is working on it too," Clint said.

"So why cant I?" I asked.

"I'm worried," he admitted. "You've become a friend, I think of you as my little sister and I don't wont you to get caught in the middle of a war."

"A war?" I asked a little panicked, if Clint was right then I had no business being a part of it.

"The terrorist group was a group called The Ten Rings," Clint said. "They don't mess around and they had some of your products."

"And you guys just connected the dots," I surmised.

"Clint," I said. "Promise me if I step back, if I don't stick my nose into something that I clearly can't handle, that it will be handled."

Clint smiled. "I promise," he said.

"Thanks," I replied. "And thanks for handling my dad with dignity, most people can't."

Clint shrugged. "He was putting forth an effort. And you need to see that Scarlett. He was making an effort today."

I didn't say anything but just nodded. "Bye Big Bird."

"Bye Tweety," he responded giving me a quick hug and then leaving.

I walked back to the living room and saw my father was standing there. I stopped having expected him to be back in the lab by now.

"Dad?" I said. "What are you doing?"

"Good he's gone. I have a new project and I'm going to need your help," my dad said. "I've been working on it and I think after everything maybe it's time to bring you in on it."

I nodded my head and followed him as he headed toward his lab. "What's the secret project?" I ask, squashing my feelings deep inside me.

"I want you to work on the suit that I built to escape," he said as he went to his workbench.

"And do what?" I asked.

"Some good," he finished ominously.

"Dad," I said looking at him. "This isn't some crazy suicide mission is it?" I asked

My dad stopped and looked at me. "Scarlett, what happened over here opened my eyes and it has to stop."

"Which is why you stopped production," I said. "So we can take control and stop the dealing underneath the table."

"Which stopped any future," he said. "But what about what is out there now?"

"Let the authorities take care of it," I protested standing up. "Let someone who is actually trained take care of it."

"I need to clean up the mess," my dad said. "It's my name and my products."

"And your funeral!" I yelled getting angry. "Dad, going against terrorist groups with no training, and by yourself; it's a suicide mission. And I can"t deal with you being dead again. I won't."

He didn't say anything, he just stared at me like he couldn't believe that I was against him doing this; that I wasn't on board for this clearly half-thought-out idea.

All I could think about was the warning that the agent guy handed me, and the words Clint just said; a war. I shook my head, I wasn't okay with this. I just got him back. I wasn't going to help him with this.

I started to walk past him and was headed to the door when I heard him speak.

"I'm finally showing some responsibility and now is the time when you can't deal with it?" he said.

I turned to face him, I was angry and I wanted to hurt him so I chose the words that I knew that would. "Responsible?" I asked "You want to be responsible? Start with looking at how you treated your daughter growing up!"

"I know! And I'm trying to take responsibility for my actions and I missed the biggest step," my dad said. "You."

"Dad," I said taking a step towards him then stopping. "I don't want you to think of me as some problem you have to take care of, I am your daughter, I want you to love me, I want to wake up on my birthday and know that you're going to be here with my favorite breakfast. I want to know that you remember that it's my birthday not have someone remind you."

"I know that," my dad said. "I know. I'm working on that"

I sighed and shook my head.

"Are you going to help or not?" my dad asked.

"You just told me that you wanted to work on us, and I want you to say how you are going to get yourself killed before you achieve this," I said, feeling stupid again.

My dad ran his hair through his very short hair. "I don't know what you want from me!" my dad yelled all of the sudden. I flinched, my dad had never yelled at me, ever. Looks like this week was a whole lot of firsts.

But I was angry, I was hurt and I was still in pain from the physical therapy session. And I wanted him to give a damn.

So once again I threw all of my worries out the window, I didn't give a second thought to how whatever I was going to say or do was going to effect him.

"I want you to want to be my dad more than some stupid revenge idea you have half thought about!" I yelled back "I want to be your number one priority not some stupid suit that is going to get you killed!"

My dad stopped whatever retort he had, his mouth opened and then closed and then repeated. Twice.

But in my mind this wasn't something that needed to be thought about. In my mind this was a clear-cut decision. Of course I might have been a smidge biased.

He still hadn't answered when I decide I didn't have it in me to hear the answer he eventually decided to give. So I walked past him and headed to my room.

I heard Max's footsteps behind me as I entered the room. Was it me? I wondered. Was I the only one who thought this was stupid? First Peter now my dad, was everyone I knew going to try and become a superhero?

I picked up the glass vase that was sitting on a table and threw it the wall, screaming while I did it.

He was going to get himself killed, I was going to become an orphan again. I was losing another parent. Another parent was choosing to leave me.

And this wasn't about me, I knew that, this was about some stupid form of PTSD that my dad was going through, but I was a teenage girl. Underneath all of the genius and the famous last name, I was still a girl and I just wanted….

I went and grabbed a broom, and started to clean up the mess that I had made. I had finished and laid down on the couch. I needed to start over. Figure out who I was because the girl I had been was in the desert in Afghanistan, she was never coming back and I needed to figure out who was the girl here now.

I pulled myself together and grabbed my computer. My eighteenth birthday was coming up and I think it was time for me to leave. Especially if my dad was serious on this whole suicide mission.

I paced around the room for a while until I just landed on the bed.

I buried my head in my pillow and just sat there, I felt Max hop on the bed and then I felt him sit on my legs. I groaned and he just barked at me.

I heard my phone go off and I reached into my back pocket, trying to get my dog out of the way.

"Hello?" I answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hey Red," I heard Peter say.

"Hey spider guy," I said. "What's up?"

"Just checking on you," he said. "Wanted to make sure that you were doing okay."

"Thanks," I said as I grabbed a pillow and laid my head on it.

"So are you?" he asked.

I thought about it for a second, was I okay?

The answer was no, I wasn't ok.

"I thought it would be different," I confessed. "I thought that everything would be perfect."

"Red," I heard his voice.

"It was stupid." I said. "I was stupid to think that."

"It wasn't stupid," he tried to comfort me.

"No, it was," I countered, "that naïve girl died over there and as much as I want her back I know better now; it's never going to be what I want."

"And are you ok with that?"

"I'm trying. I'm trying to be my own person and accept everything. I just don't know how long it's going to take."

"Well, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Peter, so distract me from my woes; how is life as a superhero?"

I could hear Peter chuckle. "I've been a little busy thinking about my sister and wondering how she was doing trying to save the world."

"Well speaking as said sister, I am disappointed in you."

"Red, I can hear it in your voice, what's going on?"

I felt grateful that Peter wanted me to talk about it. While I needed to talk about it I didn't feel like dumping my problems on someone else. So I launched into the whole deal. About how Clint was actually an agent, I broke into S.H.E.I.L.D., named it S.H.E.I.L.D. How I promised that I wasn't going to get involved with anything else dealing with Stark Industries and now my dad was building a suit which he was planning on getting some weird sense of justice by going after them.

Once I had finished, I had felt so much better. All of my problems were out there and I think I had solved a few on my own.

"Red," he began. "Can I be honest with you?"

I took a deep breath, grateful that he was going to speak his mind. I had no idea what to do or how to act so maybe Peter could tell me.

"Yes," I said. "Please."

"You need to get your head out of your ass," he said.

I sucked in a breath, anger rushed through me at that comment but he continued to go on. "Your dad is offering you a chance, it may not be the one that you want but it's a chance. It's everything that you have ever wanted, and because it isn't living up to your fantasy you're turning your nose up at it." He said.

"But what about Clint? He asked me to stop helping him," I asked.

"Who cares about what some guy you met three months ago says," he scoffed "Red, go down stairs and help him!"

Max barked and Peter started laughing. "See, even our sidekick agrees with me," he said.

I chuckled and pet Max to calm him down. "Ok, I'm going to do this," I said

"Red," Peter said. "Be careful."

"I thought you said that I should do this?" I asked confused.

"I did and I stand by that, but I'm also telling you to guard your heart," he warned. "You have a good heart and I would hate for you to lose it."

"Ok, superhero, I'll keep my 'good heart' guarded."

Peter chuckled. "Well maybe you'll get superpowers and then we could be a team," he offered.

"Oh, no," I say. "I'm never getting powers if I can help it. I'll just stick here with my computers."

Peter laughed. "Ok, if you say so."

"I say so," I teased.

I could hear Aunt May calling him to dinner; I smiled at hearing his response. "I've got to go," Peter said.

"I heard," I teased him. "Send Aunt May my love, and Peter?"

"Yeah, Red," he replied.

"Thank you," I said. "I needed this phone call and I even needed this reality check."

"Anytime Red," he promised. "Anytime."

I changed into a pair of old faded jeans, pulled on an old t shirt and I walked down the steps to my dad's lab.

"Dad?" I called out looking around for him.

His computer screen was running so I walked over there and sat down. I put one leg behind me and propped up my other leg, I ran over the information that was running through the screen and saw that my dad was actually flying his suit.

I picked up one of the spare headsets that was sitting on the table and I was thrown into the conversation that my dad was having with JARVIS.

"Well look who finally decided to make an appearance," I heard my dad's voice. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with this."

"Do you really want to do this now?" I asked. "You're going too high."

"There isn't a too high," my dad countered.

I was running over the information that was going across the screen again. "Yes, it is Dad; your suit is going to ice over."

I could hear the crackle of the ice forming through the headset.

"JARVIS we've got to break the ice!" I could hear my dad's voice.

"Dad?" I said, sitting frozen to the chair. My hands were gripping the edge of the table as I listened to my dad and JARVIS try to break the ice on the suit.

The sounds of my dad struggling were hard, but I kept the headset on, I let out a sigh of relief as I heard my dad start flying again.

"I don't want to hear it," my dad said through the headset. I guessed he was referring to the fact that I had told him so, but I had no intention of saying it.

"Just come back home." I said.

"On it," he said.

I could hear him upstairs as he flew over head. "Kill power," my dad said.

I heard him yell as I saw the ceiling start to fall, I screamed and turned towards the hole that had formed as I saw him land on top of the cars. All of the alarms started to go off and Dum-E started to dose him with the fire extinguisher….. again.

I was breathing heavy and I watched him slowly sit up and start groaning.

I was frozen staring at the mess as my dad groaned and slowly started to stand.

"Scar?" he asked, I turned to him and noticed that he was standing up and almost right in front of me.

I looked from the wreck of the cars and the plaster in the ceilings to my dad. "The cars," I breathed out.

My dad just gave me a smile and patted me on the back. "I'm going to get out of this and change," he said.

I nodded as I turned the chair back towards the computer. I started typing and fixing problems here and there as I heard my dad yell at the robots who were trying to take off the suit.

"So," my dad said as he rolled up next to me. "We need to talk."

I took a deep breath, and looked at him. "Okay," I said.

"I thought you weren't going to help me?" he said. "That I was going to kill myself?"

"You are going to kill yourself," I countered. "You are diving head first into a situation you have no training for, but that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. "I graduated first in my class," I said.

"Of course you did," my dad scoffed. "I knew that."

"No you didn't," I countered. "Dad, you didn't show up to my high school graduation, and I tried to pass it off because it was only high school. But I was top of my class at MIT, and I did it a year earlier than you. I pushed myself so hard because I wanted to impress you, which is why I said I would give a speech despite being terrified of speaking in front of people. Because I thought you were going to show up. And you didn't."

He didn't say anything but I could see him take a breath.

"And I'm not saying that to be mean or to hurt you, I'm just saying that my entire life I have tried to give you a reason to be a part of it. And now you are offering, just because it's not the one that I want doesn't mean I'm going to throw it away." I finished. "So here I am, helping you build this suit."

Peter was right, this was my chance to do something with my dad. Screw Clint and that agent guy. I was going to do everything that I could to seize it.

My dad leaned back in his chair and studied me, I assumed he was thinking over what I had said.

"Alright," he said standing up from the chair. "We have a slight icing problem that needs to be taken care of."

I smirked and nodded my head. "Of course," I replied as I turned back around to look at the other data from the flight. "How is the arc reactor?" I asked casually although I was insanely curious about it.

My dad smiled and sent me the data form the tests that JARVIS had run since he had put it into his chest. "Everything is fine Scar," he reassured me.

I smiled and the nodded before turning to the computer screen and getting fully immersed into the work. Peter was right; it wasn't perfect, nor was it ideal, but I was actually enjoying myself. This bonding time with my dad was something that I needed. Something we both needed I think. Maybe, just maybe, this is the first step towards something big.

AN: HAPPY BIRTHDAy to our dear Captain!

In honor I decided to release the chapter today!

I hope you guys like this chapter, I wanted to show exactly how she is confused, when fantasy is dashed by reality and what are you suppose to do, but in the end Peter came and called her on her shit. Because they are buds and that is how that relationship works

some notes and huge Thanks on reviews!

Guest: Thanks for the review!

: Thanks for the review!

Guest2015: I agree with everything you said! and I think Scarlett is staring to agree with it, especially after her moment with Peter, I wanted this chapter to really show that this is going to take a while for both of them

JJAndrews: I don't Scarlett was expecting to rant, but it was the first time she actually got express her fears, she's always been afraid to or worried because the people she loves are ultimitley are on Tony's payroll

Purple Pizza: Ya, I wanted to make it blend into the movie, and when Tony disappeared he was visiting Rhodey and I think that this project this whole drive of redemption is really moving Tony to the point where he forgets everything else,

storylover001: Aw thanks for the review!

mun3litKnight: I've always had that opinion of Tony, don't get me wrong I love Tony, but the way he grew up doesnt contribute to him being able to be an amazing father and I wanted to explore that concept