Your Little Stark

Ch•13-Being his Daughter

I walked down the school hallway to my classroom a few days later. All the kids who were following me around were getting on my nerves. They kept asking me questions about my Dad.

"How did Mr. Stark escape?"

"How long had he been held prisoner?"

"What's it like being his daughter?"

"Are you rich?"

I never fully answered their questions, I kept my eyes forward until the classroom came in sight. But even behind the closed door, there was no escape. My teacher (even though she hates me) always wants the inside scoop on things.

School is extremely difficult. Not in the education way, I have all A's and B's, but it's just all the people there. They don't ever leave me alone.

I sat on my purple bed after school, my converse shoes had been kicked off to the ground. A 300 paged book rested in my lap. I've been reading the book for a little over an hour, and I've only made it 31 pages in. That's just the first chapter. I'm not the fastest reader. The first chapter of the book was about Captain America or 'Steve Rogers' and about his family, friends, and home life. His mother had died along with his father. He wanted to join the army but he was too skinny, had asthma, and just wasn't physically capable.

Steve later proved himself worthy with his work ethic and confidence which made him stand out. One of the paragraphs was about him throwing himself on top of a grenade to save his whole platoon, even though it was a fake grenade! I wish I was that brave. I admired him in so many ways, gosh if only I could talk to him!

After a while, I decided that I would come back to the book later. Nobody was home right now. It's funny because I've been home alone all day, ever since I got home from school, it feels odd. Downstairs, the Tv was on, the news channel was playing. Was that Rhodey on the channel? I grabbed the remote and turned up. It was Rhodey!

He had his blue and badged Military outfit on, he was speaking into a microphone in front of a dozen reporters. Something about a training accident of some kind. "An unfortunate training exercise involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday. I am pleased to report that the pilot was not injured" A training exercise huh? Isn't that just something the Military says to 'cover up' even worse situations. Is Dad involved? I feel like he's probably involved, but probably not "As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the United States government was not involved"
I turned off the TV, puzzled after Rhodey had finished his speech.

This is weird. My Mom always told me that broadcasted conferences like this were bogus. The news lies all the time. The government lies. I was almost about to pick up the phone and call Rhodey, but a clattering noise sounded from downstairs, followed by some muffled voices. My heart started beating a mile a minute. Who was downstairs in the workroom? I thought I was home alone.

I tiptoed to the stairs and started my decent down. It was most likely Dad, or a criminal, I honestly can't tell which one is worse. My feet padded softly on the wooden stairs, hardly making a sound. As I got closer to Dads shop, the voices grew louder. It sounded like they were saying 'ouch' and 'watch it' with more clanking sounds after it. I pressed my back to the stone wall once I reached the glass. I reached my hand out to punch in the passcode and sneak in.

The was a person near the cars, and it just so happens that the person breaking in was none other than my Father. I was totally ready for some action if it wasn't him though. Pepper is going to sign me up for some self defense classes to help me defend myself just in case I needed it.

"There you are" Dad was suspended in the air by his little mechanical robot arms. They seemed to be picking off the red and gold suit that clung to his body. Dad was fidgeting around from all the poking.

"There I am?" I put my hands on my hips "Where were you? I've been home alone all day!"

"Uhh, training exercise. Testing out the suit, you know?" He grunted.

"Wait" I face palmed "That was you? On the Tv! You did that?! The little so called training exercise was you?"

"Maybe" he shrugged. I sighed deeply, so now he's going around and blowing stuff up with the suit? From down here, I could see that he had little cuts on his face. Most likely from the 'training accident'. The suit was dirty and tattered with... Bullet holes? He noticed my stares and quickly added "those are nothing, I'm completely fine" Dad grimaced, grunting as the robotic arms stripped off the armor around his torso.

"I thought someone was trying to break in, I would have killed you"

"You kill me?" He scoffed, throwing his head back in laughter "With your little spaghetti arms? In your dreams"

I folded my arms across my chest "I've been working on it"

"We need to sign you up for Karate classes or something, Martial Arts maybe. That'll help your pudding muscles"

"I get it" I turned back to the door "I'm weak..." I was halfway out the door when I looked back suddenly "But wait. You went to Gulmira, right?" Dad nodded, focusing on trying to get the armor off his body. I smiled "You saved them, didn't you?" That time he turned his head to me, he nodded slightly to me "That blonde lady from the party told me all about it. She showed me all these pictures of our weapons..."

"Sorry you had to see that, Jes"

I shrugged, looking down to my feet "I'm just glad you saved them in time, you're a... Hero in a way" that was the only thing I could think of before walking back up the stairs to the living room. I thought of Captain America and how he was a Hero himself. A warm smile spread across my face. He really does have a heart under that electromagnet. I'm glad that my Dad is a hero. Just like Captain America!

I reached the living room, the warm feeling was still spreading around my body "Hey Jessi" Pepper smiled as she entered the house. Jarvis scanned and let her pass "Is your father here?"

I nodded "he's downstairs" Pepper smiled at me and walked down the stairs. I decided to play outside with a soccer ball for the rest of the afternoon. The sun shined down on me as I dribbled the ball between my feet. My mind drifted to the whole 'Super Hero' thing. When I first met Dad, he looked like some angry, middle aged man who just got back from being held by terrorist, which was the case. I thought he'd stay that way forever. But little by little, he opens up more. I find myself telling him things that I never thought I would, like the whole 'Hero' thing. Saying that made me smile.
He deserved it.

He's amazing, I suppose.