April 18th 2003

"Bring your Kid to Work day!"

Tony's answer to his daughter confiding in Happy that she was lonely, and had no friends. Surely among all these smart people he employed, there would be one or two kids she could bond with?

He was struggling to figure this one out. He hadn't really had friends until meeting Rhodey. And he had never been able to talk about it with his parents. A part of him felt jealous that his father would never have cared enough to try help him in anything he considered 'weak'. Another part was devastated that he'd put his own child in the same position. He remembered the loneliness like yesterday, and try as he might as her dad, there wasn't a way he could heal that ache for her.

They entered the admin building, balloons, a magician, a roaming clown- Tony eased them away from the man, clowns still gave him the creeps.

He'd given a company wide half day, with full pay- those without kids were giving child friendly demonstrations in labs and workshops, those with kids were showing their work and checking out demonstrations.

Hopefully it might even inspire a future scientist.

Food trucks lined the footpath, preparing to serve lunch before everyone left.

'I like your hair!' A girl, Tony couldn't pick the age, all kids except Astrid looked either toddlers, kids or teen. Age was ambiguous to him.

'Thanks! Yours is pretty' Astrid released his hand after a gentle squeeze 'I like your butterfly clip'

They'd practiced for this. Return compliments, ask about people, don't just talk about science.

'What's your name? I'm Poppy'

'I'm Astrid' she smiled and looked around her new acquaintance 'is it your mom or your dad who works here?'

'My dad' Poppy sighed 'and his work is boring!'

'Is he a mathematician?' She asked. Tony held in his laugh, catching Peppers eye with a smirk. Everyone close to her had heard the mathematician complaint.

'No, he's a janitor' she pointed to him 'it's so boring'

'Your dad is Al!' Astrid was excited, she liked Al, he made origami animals out of waste paper for her sometimes 'he can do origami, that's so cool!'

Penny shrugged 'cleaning up is still boring'

'All jobs are important, even if they're boring' she said seriously, putting her backpack on the ground 'want a lollipop?' Tony felt a burst of pride, he'd worked hard to make sure she understood that without the whole of Stark Industries pitching in, the machine would fall apart. Each person was valuable, and important to their work, from the janitors and lab assistants, to the engineers and lead scientists.

'Yes please!' Astrid offered out a handful of lollipops for her to choose from as her father approached,

'Hi Mr Bennett' she held out a lollipop laden hand to him too 'want a lollipop?'

'No thanks Miss Stark' he smiled kindly at her then looked at Tony 'you've organised a wonderful day, Mr Stark. Penny has been having a great time'

'I'm so glad, thank you Al' he didn't say anything about his daughter thinking his job was boring. He was a single dad, doing his best. He'd had to drop out of college to raise Penny when her mother left them. He couldn't wholly empathise, but he had a lot of respect for the young man. Young man, he caught himself. He was in his late 20's, just a few years younger than Tony. 'I hope you both enjoy the rest of the day. We've got an icecream truck for dessert too!'

Penny's eyes shone with excitement when she looked up shyly 'that's so cool Mr Stark'

'Just Tony, kiddo' he smiled 'Sass, I'm going to leave you with Pepper for a bit okay? I need to run up and talk to Obi'

A little crease deepened between her brows while she nodded, then offered him a bright smile 'okay Daddy' as he walked away he heard her say to Penny 'do you wanna come to the chemistry labs? I think they're doing acid reactions'

'How did you go today, Miss Stark?'

Astrid smiled at Happy, licking her ice cream cone as they sat on the grass, watching the food trucks pack up. There were a few stragglers without kids leaving, but otherwise the buildings were empty. 'It was good. I might have made some friends' a small nod 'sort of. I don't know why none of them think what their parents do is cool. Doctor Mullins is literally studying anti-matter and his son was bored. BORED Happy! Anti Matter is one of the coolest physics projects here!'

'Well, I suppose not everyone thinks the same things are cool, Sass' he shrugged, raising his ice cream 'just like I like caramel ice cream and you like strawberry. We're all different, right?'

'mmmm' she nodded again 'I know. But if I have to pretend to be interested in Chaos Mathematic problems like Ramsey Theory, then why can't they?'

'You really hate the Math professors don't you?' Happy loved this kid like crazy. Sometimes she was so much like your average child and others she was this adult in a tiny body. Watching her grow, watching the way Tony parented and changed in kind, it was something special.

'I don't hate them I just... they're always thinking so hard on things that maybe if they just let it happen, it would come to them'

He laughed, shaking his head 'not everyone is born a genius kid. You might solve something by letting your brain work in the background, but some people have to think HARD about what they're doing or their mind wanders'

'Sorry what was that? I was thinking of something else' crinkled eyes, scrunched nose. Almost incapable of teasing the people she loved with a straight face

'Are you teasing your favourite employee?' his brow raised, biting his ice cream

'Are you being mean to Happy again, Sassy?' Tony's shadow covered them, finally escaped from Obadiah and his hours of business talks. Telling him it was time to buckle down and focus on work properly. Time to take charge, not have his daughter at his heels constantly. He'd been holding in his anger for hours- Astrid was the future of the business, of their world and she should be nurtured as such 'Lucky the press isn't here to hear it'