Francesca Stark is the second child of Howard and Maria Stark. After her parents died in 1991, the 12 year old was sent away to boarding school (by Tony) until she was 18 and able to take care of herself. She has since then resented her brother for...
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Francesca stared at the ceiling while she lied in bed. She kept replaying the image in her head of her brother turning into Ironman and saving hers' and many other people's lives. She, on the other hand, just stood on the tarmac, helpless.
Suddenly the phone on her nightstand rang. She grabbed it placing it against her ear.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Francesca, hi. I need your help" Tony said on the other side of the phone. She rolled over onto her side.
"It's 1 am here. Plus you needing my help seems to be a reoccurring thing now" Francesca sassily countered.
"Look I knew you were up. Probably can't stop thinking about today. You're just lying in bed staring at the ceiling. Am I right?" Tony asked. Francesca couldn't believe he had guessed it.
"So what can I help with?" Francesca asked ignoring his previous question.
"I've been holding back some secrets. Can you just get to LA and we can talk here?" Tony asked. She could sense there was urgency in his voice. Tony was never not confident nor worried.
"I'll get dressed and leave now. See you in a little" Francesca said ending the call. She got out of bed and quickly dug through her closet throwing on her typical biker jacket and jeans. She then walked down to the helipad and jumped in the helicopter. She arrived a few short minutes later at the runway where the private jet was waiting for her.
"LA please. Make it fast" she said as she sat in her seat. She rubbed the bridge of her nose preparing herself for the worst, whatever that could be. With Tony she didn't know what to expect.
——————
"Tony?" Francesca called out as she walked into his Malibu mansion which looked destroyed. The ceiling has char marks and the walls and windows were busted with holes that could only be created with the suit. She ventured down to the lower level to find Tony looking at the prototype map created by their father. It was his ideal town, the future of tomorrow.
"So you called me to come across the country to what, look at Dad's toy?" Francesca asked as she walked over to Tony. He was looking at the model while sipping on whiskey.
"Dad said it was the key to the future. What the hell does that even mean?" Tony asked quite angry.
"What did you call me over here for?" Francesca asked getting frustrated. She extremely exhausted and jet lagged.
"I'm dying" Tony said flat out. He banged his empty glass down on the table, looking his sister right in the eyes.
"Is this some sort of joke?" Francesca asked pacing in her spot. Tony pulled down his shirt to show her the veins on his neck. He then pulled out the palladium from the garbage. It was completely charred.
"I'm running on this stuff. It's keeping me alive expect it's also killing me. I need a new element, something to keep me alive while not killing me at the same time. That's why I called you here. You're going to create it" Tony explained pouring himself another drink.
"Tony. I haven't studied chemical engineering in so long. What's to make you think I can come up with a new element that will save you?"
"You're my only hope" Tony said looking at her hopelessly. Francesca looked at the model of the town once more. She was thinking back to the simpler days her father had as a CEO of the company.
"Can I get a digital scan of this" Francesca asked as something clicked inside her head. Jarvis scanned the model for her.
"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete" the electronic butler said. Francesca raised the digital model up and brought it over to the empty floor space. She then rotated it 180 degrees for a birds eye view.
"What do you see?" Francesca asked her brother. He stood their confused.
"Houses, stores, Belgium waffle stands" Tony joked.
"Look harder. An atom with the nucleus being here" Francesca pointed out. "Highlight the unisphere"
Francesca slowly and meticulously wiped away things until she was left with what she believed was a new element. "Did I just do it?" She asked looking at her brother. The two were inside the handcrafted element gazing in wonder.
"Dead almost 20 years still taking me to school" Tony muttered. "You did it" he said grabbing her in a hug celebrating. The two smiled at each other.
"Get ready fellas we are back in hardware mode" Tony asked as the two walked upstairs. Francesca watched as her brother began to develop the equipment needed to synthesize the new element. She was still shocked with herself, having doubted her ability in the first place.
"Come on. This wall isn't going to break itself" Tony said handing her a sledgehammer. She looked at brother feeling guilty she had her own secret.
