Author's Note: Here is the beginning of Iron Man 3! Enjoy!
I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 15: Holiday in Malibu
A small sigh escaped Riley's mouth as she did some designs on her notebook.
Riley wore a hot pink jumper, bright blue trousers and black flats.
It was 23:20 pm in the night, but she wasn't tired.
The brunette was designing a wedding dress as well as a big cake and two golden rings due to thinking about if her father is ever going to marry Pepper.
No woman alive could ever replace her birth mother in her heart, but she still wanted her father to be happy.
And by happy, she clearly meant happily married.
She was eleven years old and was soon heading to the teenage years which will include changes that only girls could only talk about together.
Hopefully, the day her father proposes to Pepper will come sooner than she expected.
A smile appeared on Riley's face.
"Good things come to those who will wait."Riley murmured."So I'll patiently wait for that special moment."
Riley then closed her notebook and placed it in her backpack before making her way to her dressing mirror to look at her appearance.
She looked completely perfect and healthy.
Though Pepper told her when girls are 12 years old, they have independent thoughts, enter puberty and develop height.
Even be critical of themselves and their appearance.
It had been six months after the battle of New York.
After putting together an organisation to help clean up the mess the Chitauri and Avengers made, Tony began the remodel of Stark tower.
But this time, it was to be renamed Avenger's tower.
Once everything was settled, Tony, Pepper and Riley went back to California to their Malibu house.
They were to stay there until all the construction back in New York was done.
Bruce, on the other hand, decided to go visit his girlfriend Betty back in Willowdale, Virginia.
Though Riley felt sad to see another fellow Avenger leave, the brunette knew Bruce needed to be there for the woman he loved.
Riley made her way down the hallway and stuck her head in her father and Pepper's bedroom.
Pepper was sound asleep, but her father's side was empty which meant only one thing.
Her father was most likely down in the lab tinkering away.
Not wanting to see him, the brunette snuck through the rest of the house before making her way out onto the balcony.
Once she was out in the cool air, Riley went to the side of the house and began to climb up the side until she reached the top.
Riley then went to her usual spot on the edge of the roof that overlooked the ocean.
She sat down and pulled her legs up and close to her body as she worked on calming herself down.
Her eyes watched the ocean with its sounds of crashing waves on one side and the really loud highway on the other.
Malibu was the hideout of rock stars, screen icons and billionaires, but there was a time when the surf ruled and in some corners, it still did.
The brunette would actually enjoy going to Malibu's beach if her father was-
CRASH!
Riley carefully went off the roof to rush back into the house to go check on her father and saw him laying down on his lab while pieces of an Iron Man suit were scattered in different parts of the room.
"Oh my gosh! Dad!"Riley gasped as she rushed over to Tony and helped him up."Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine, Rye-Rye."Tony replied.
"As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work."J.A.R.V.I.S. declared.
Riley frowned at Tony as the billionaire removed the Iron Man mask and placed it on his desk.
"Dad, you've been working 72 hours."Riley declared as she picked a piece of the armour suit from the floor."You need to relax."
"I know."Tony responded.
"You know, but you still don't do it."Riley complemented in disapproval."But I think you've spent time more on repairing than building."
Tony smirked and ruffled Riley's hair.
"And you, Miss Rhiannon Maria Stark, is utterly passed her bedtime."Tony informed.
"Must I?"Riley questioned.
"Well, I'm not afraid to blast some AC/DC music to wake you up."Tony declared casually."I've done it before, so you know I'm not bluffing."
Riley immediately planted a kiss on her father's cheek before giving him a hug and heading out of the lab in a fast walking pace.
"Good night, dad!"Riley declared enthusiastically.
After his daughter left the lab, Tony focused back on the work on his suits.
He was still actually utterly bothered in the events that happened in New York.
Gods?
Aliens?
Other dimensions?
How on Earth would he protect Pepper and Riley from all of the possible dangerous beings out there?
He was just a man with an iron suit.
The first thing Riley did after waking up was brushing her teeth and change out of her pyjamas before putting on her clothes for the day.
She placed on a turquoise ruffled crop top, a denim vest and cherry blossom floral wide-leg trousers with short brown boots.
After doing her hair a bit, Riley left her bedroom to head into the kitchen, just in time to see Pepper grating cheese into scrambled eggs.
"Good morning, Riley."Pepper greeted.
"Hi, Pepper."Riley responded before giving Pepper a hug."Is dad still sleeping?"
"He said he will be down in a minute."Pepper admitted.
"Right."Riley answered as she went to sit on a chair."Say, Pepper? May I ask you something?"
"Sure."Pepper replied.
Pepper placed a plate of cheese omelette and salad on the table before sitting next to Riley.
"I'm at a certain age."Riley admitted.
"You're at a certain age?"Pepper questioned.
"You had to know this was going to happen."Riley complemented.
"I know a lot of things are going to happen."Pepper stated."Which one is this?"
"Makeup."Riley admitted.
"Oh, good."Pepper praised.
"I can have some?"Riley asked with an excited smile.
"Nope."Pepper answered.
Riley became confused by Pepper's respond.
"Why not?"Riley questioned."What's the difference between daytime makeup and nighttime makeup?"
"No difference because you're not wearing any."Pepper declared.
"What about when I do?"Riley suggested.
"When we decide that you're at the right age to start wearing makeup."Pepper admitted as she went to make herself a cup of coffee."You might find that you prefer a more natural look during the day. Some women prefer to go a bit bolder at night. You are not allowed to hang out with those women."
Riley simply shrugged as she started to eat her breakfast.
"Mmm. This cheddar cheese omelette is awesome, Pepper."Riley praised kindly."The smooth, silky exterior with little to no browning that cradles a tender, moist and soft-scrambled interior. I think people will mistake you to be a French chef."
"Why thank you, Riley."Pepper responded."And you know you're still not going to wear makeup, right?"
"Yeah. I know."Riley replied in a casual tone."I have to be the right age for that."
Pepper lightly giggled at Riley's respond.
Then Tony came into the kitchen before planting a kiss on Riley's head.
"Morning, Rye-Rye."Tony greeted.
"Morning, dad."Riley greeted with a smile.
Riley immediately covered her face with her iPhone as Tony went over to Pepper and shared a kiss with each other.
"I am going to need a long vacation from smoochie land."Riley mumbled dramatically.
Tony and Pepper share a small laugh with each other as Riley noticed her iPhone's screen buzzing.
"Uhh…Dad? Pepper?"Riley asked with an unsure look."I think you two should see this."
Pepper and Tony went to join Riley.
"Another video by you?"Pepper guessed.
"Hollywood should hire as a junior movie director."Tony chuckled.
Riley didn't say anything as she got distracted by the video that had begun to play on her iPhone.
The first thing to pop up on the screen was what Riley assumed was a flag or a logo.
There were ten small circles placed to make a larger circle around a pair of two swords.
In the back were a bunch of colored stripes and there seemed to be some language written inside the circles that the young brunette couldn't understand.
The screen flickered again and it changed to a man who was walking down a line of frightened men who were on their knees.
The man wore sunglasses and looked at the group of men with a blank expression before turning and walking away.
"Some people call me a terrorist."
Guns were shown before the sound of gunfire filled the air and the men dropped to the ground dead.
The man didn't even seemed phased as he continued to walk away.
"I consider myself a teacher."
Images of America flashed on the screen before the man's face appeared again.
"America, ready for another lesson? In 1864 in Sand Creek, Colorado the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land."
Images of American Indians, of families and of the dead appeared before the screen was filled with coloured lines again.
The screen flickered back to the man who had taken his sunglasses off and was now looking at the camera as he paced.
"Thirty-nine hours ago the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked."
Video footage of a building on fire and smoke rising into the air was shown before it went back to the man.
"I...I...I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuver, the braves were away."
An explosion and then video clips of the president flickered on as the man's voice continued.
"President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am, you don't know where I am. . ."
The man's face appeared on the screen.
"And you'll never see me coming."
Images of war, destruction, explosions, the dead and a lot of screaming came next before the screen turned a dark red colour.
Then the same ten circle logo appeared again before the screen went black.
The video ended and Riley's iPhone screen immediately went back to normal.
Tony, Riley and Pepper quietly glanced at each other, neither of them having no idea what to say on the video they just watched.
Afterwards, Tony and Riley met up with Rhodey at Neptune's Net; a famous restaurant in Malibu.
The sounds of clanking utensils against plates and the light murmurs of conversations drifted through the restaurant, but nobody seemed focused on them.
Even though the most famous superhero ever was sitting at the corner table with his daughter and a colonel.
"It tested well with focus groups, okay?"Rhodey declared.
Rhodey tried to explain to the Starks the reasoning behind the War Machine name changed which was currently being talked about on every TV inside the diner.
"I am Iron Patriot."Tony mocked in a low and masculine voice.
Riley chuckled while nibbling on the end of a sweet potato chip.
The brunette looked over her shoulder to the television screen which was showing a photo of the Iron Patriot suit.
It was decked out in a red, white and blue coating with a military rifle built on to the back.
Some of it looked intimidating, but the patriotic colors and the name 'Iron Patriot' was sort of an American Cliché.
"War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright?"Rhodey commented as he laced his fingers together on the table, glancing between Tony and Riley."This sends a better message."
A small silence spread across the table of Rhodey, Tony and Riley.
Rhodey sipped his water and Tony watched Riley slurp on her blueberry milkshake for a moment before looking at his friend.
"So, what's really going on?"Tony asked, lowering his voice."With the Mandarin. Seriously."
Tony removed his sunglasses from his eyes to look directly at Rhodey.
"Can we talk about this guy?"Tony suggested.
"It's classified information, Tony."Rhodey replied.
Tony scooted over a seat to be closer to him so that he could hear.
Riley leaned in from across the table, luckily, he included her in the conversation.
"Okay, there have been nine bombings."Rhodey admitted."The public only knows about three and here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There are no bomb casings."
Riley became a bit startled a bit.
Nine bombings?
Had this thing really gone on that far?
She was actually glad that she and her father had Rhodey to tell them all of this stuff.
"You know I can help."Tony suggested while raising his arms slightly."Just ask. I got a ton of new tech. I got a prehensile suit."
Rhodey turned his head to Riley and gave her a hard look.
Riley subtly shook her head in respond.
"I got bomb disposal."Tony continued."It catches explosions in mid-air."
"When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?"Rhodey asked, placing his knuckles up to his lips.
"Einstein slept three hours a year."Tony admitted."Look what he did."
"Dad."Riley spoke up while swirling her straw around her blueberry milshake drink."Einstein didn't have post traumatic stress."
Tony frowned. "I don't have post traumatic stress, Rye-Rye."
"People are concerned about you, Tony."Rhodey stated, going on Riley's side."Riley's concerned about you. I'm concerned about you."
"You're going to come at me like that?"Tony retorted.
"No, look."Rhodey replied while raising his hand to try and quiet up Tony."I'm not trying to be a dictator."
Out of no where, two innocent kids (a girl and a little boy with glasses) appeared at the edge of the table near Tony.
Riley smiled as the girl, who held up a paper drawing of Iron Man towards Tony.
"Do you mind signing my drawing, Mr Stark?"the girl asked politely.
"If Richard doesn't mind."Tony answered.
Tony gestured to Rhodey, playing the whole 'Dick' was another name for 'Richard' joke.
The billionaire returned his attention back to the girl.
"What's your name?"Tony asked.
"Erin."the girl replied.
Dad took one of the crayons in the little boy's hand, giving him a second glance.
"I love you in A Christmas Story by the way."Tony commented.
"Listen."Rhodey instructed as he leaned in towards Tony while out of ear shot of the kids."The Pentagon is scared. After New York, aliens? Come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is a priority, but it's not..."
"It's not Superhero business."Tony finished.
Tony wrote a little note on the paper with the drawing.
"No."Rhodey said and shook his head."It's not."
"I get it."Tony responded.
"It's American business."Rhodey admitted.
"That's why I said I-"Tony started.
The crayon in Tony's fingers suddenly snapped under the pressure that he was applying.
Tony's face twitched and he covered his eyes with his hands.
"Got it."Tony muttered.
Tony started taking deep breaths to take in a lot of air.
"Dad?"Riley asked worriedly as she leaned towards her father and placed her hand on his shoulder."You okay? Dad!"
Tony didn't look up from his hand.
"I broke the crayon."Tony retorted.
"Are you okay Mr Stark?"Erin asked.
"Take it easy, Tony."Rhodey instructed soothingly.
Tony snapped his head up, his eyes danced back and fourth.
He seemed to be having some sort of panic attack or something.
Riley gripped Tony's arm, tugging on it to gain his attention.
The little boy with glasses leaned his head next to Tony's ear.
"How did you get out of the worm hole?"the little boy whispered.
That's when Tony flipped.
The billionaire jumped back from the table, knocking over all the drinks.
He stumbled through the surrounding tables and made a fast getaway to the exit.
Riley stood up, reaching her hand out to her father, but he was gone.
The brunette dropped her eyes down to the picture drawing.
The photo was her father in his Iron Man suit, flying up to what looked like the portal on top of Stark tower.
Dad signed his name along with a little note 'Erin, help me' and the rest was scribbles from when the crayon broke.
Riley narrowed her warm brown eyes angrily at the little boy.
"Really, kid?"Riley scowled.
Riley left the table to follow after Tony with Rhodey was at her side.
A large crowd had formed outside Neptune's Net and gathered around Iron Man himself.
Tony had covered himself with the suit, he was probably asking J.A.R.V.I.S. about what was going on.
Rhodey bent down beside Tony and tapped on the helmet.
"Come on, man."Rhodey demanded."This isn't a good look."
Rhodey looked around at the forming crowd.
"Open up, Tony."Rhodey insisted.
"Sorry."Tony apologised as he stood up and angled his hand thrusters to the ground."Gotta split."
"Hey, dad!"Riley called out as Tony took off in to the sky."Wait!"
One second Iron Man was there and the next he was gone.
"You have to fly me home."Riley mumbled with an unhappy look."But you're gone again."
Rhodey had one hand on his hip and the other was over his eyes to block out the sun.
"Hey, Uncle Rhodey?"Riley asked, glancing at Rhodey."Could you...maybe give a ride home?"
Rhodey sighed, staring at Riley with concerned eyes, but that faded into irritation.
He was just about fed up with Tony now.
Rhodey shook his head and turned to the parking lot.
"Come on, Riley."Rhodey insisted.
Seeing her father's situation, Riley followed Rhodey to his car to make her own way back to the mansion.
But like Rhodey, the Stark heiress was concerned about her father as well.
Though she hoped that he will heal himself from his traumatic stress.
They were getting near Christmas after all.