Spidey and the Iron Girl: Vol. 1

#2: With Great Responsibility...

Exercise was like a balm for Collin. Something physical as opposed to theoretical, the perfect counterbalance for all her time spent in the lab holed up with Bruce. The weight room of the complex was her haven when she needed time to be alone and it was there that she'd been burning off all her resentment and anger towards her father. All while blasting heavy metal and rap-- none of that classic rock crap her dad was into, that was for sure.

Natasha was the one who had turned her onto lifting weights once she was old enough-- using your body weight was a good starting point, but if you really wanted to build strength you needed a regimen that combined cardio with weights or some kind of tension to amp up the resistance. She'd started small with 30 pound weights, but as Collin got older and put on some muscle, the amount she could squat and bench press increased. Simple physics, she thought as she squatted easily with a 90 pound weight. Plus, she glanced at herself in the mirror, it was really doing things for her ass.

In the middle of checking herself out, though, FRIDAY suddenly cut off her music. Surprised by the sudden silence, Collin dropped the kettlebell, narrowly missing her toes.

"Fuck! FRIDAY, what have I told you--?"

"Apologies, Ms. Stark, but Mr. Stark is requesting that you join him in his office," FRIDAY managed an apologetic tone. It was incredible how her programming allowed her to mimic human emotion to such a degree. Incredible or not, though, Collin was annoyed by the interruption.

"I'll talk to him when I'm done. Music, please," She reached for the kettlebell again. If he can just decide when he comes and goes, so can I.

"Ms. Stark, he needs you to go to his office immediately. He was very clear on this, I'm not allowed to put the music back on until you--," FRIDAY explained.

"Ugh, for fuck's sake. I can't even work out in peace," Collin growled, dropping the weights and storming out of the exercise room.

She took the elevator to her father's office and was still seething when the doors opened into the ridiculously huge space outfitted with a built-in bar, sitting area and a bathroom with a shower for when he stayed up late working. Currently, he was sitting in his huge desk chair, looking out his floor to ceiling windows with his back turned to her. All he was missing was a cat in his lap to stroke while he pondered. Used to her father's unique level of extra, she rolled her eyes.

"What?" She asked brusquely, marching up to his desk. He spun around slowly, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, is that how you talk to me now?"

"As opposed to...?" She trailed off, raising her own eyebrow back at him. He gave her a look-- a serious one that told her he was not in the mood for jokes. She sighed. "I'm sorry. How can I help you, Father dearest? I'm assuming you interrupted my workout for a reason."

He just kept looking at her, something tingeing his eyes that she couldn't quite place but that made her feel uneasy. Finally, he broke his silence.

"Collin, I've always tried my best to instill... values in you," he began, his voice tight. The sinking feeling in Collin's gut increased. "To teach you that, while we may have more money and power than most people, this does not mean that we're better than them. In fact, it's because we have more money and power that we have added responsibilities, a duty to watch ourselves and our own behavior. To think about what we say before we say it because every word will hit harder when the world listens..."

"...Right?" She frowned, trying to figure out where this was going. "Is this about Twitter? Because I only post memes on there, I swear--."

"No, it's not about Twitter, Collin!" her father exploded, standing from his chair. "FRIDAY, pull up the clip."