The Daughter of Iron Man

Heros

The next few days involved a lot of preparation before returning to New York. Sarah had a few last places she wanted to visit in California, and I was frantically training to prepare to get back to Steve and Natasha. I started running in the mornings again and fortunately, my time didn't change much. I did some minor strength training, though there wasn't a whole lot I could do without Natasha.

In fact, at one point Happy offered to train me. I eagerly agreed since he taught me a little bit when I was younger. But he only got one punch in before I had him on the floor yelling for mercy. He quit right after that.

After our short match, I grabbed some gloves and started using the punching bag. I had my earbuds in so I didn't hear when the door opened. When I saw my dad standing next to me, I finally took out my earbuds.

"Hey Alice, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked.

"Sure." I replied, breathing heavy. I took my gloves off and sat down in a chair next to him. I took a giant swig of water. "What's up?" I asked.

"Sarah talked to me, she said you were interested in going to high school with her." He explained. I'd nearly forgot about that whole conversation with Sarah.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it." I admitted, then finished off the rest of my water bottle. "I know it's a public school though."

"I just want you to go to school where you can feel safe and have a good experience. So if that means going to Midtown with Sarah, I fully support you." He expressed, taking me by surprise.

"Really!?" I asked, suddenly really excited. He laughed lightly.

"Yes!" He replied, matching my excitement.

"THANK YOU!" I half yelled, way too excited to go to some public school 30 minutes away. I immediately jumped up, and threw my arms around his neck in a tight hug.

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The following week we returned to New York. We dropped Sarah off at her family's apartment, and then made our way back to Avengers tower. I missed California already, but I was also excited to get back into a regular routine. But what I was most excited for was my first night as a hero.

I was so excited and so anxious about the whole thing that I didn't even tell Sarah I was planning on going out tonight. I wasn't sure how on board she would be if I just dove headfirst into the scene, so I just kept it all to myself.

Around 11pm after the longest day of my life, I got dressed in my suit, and I was off.

Throughout the next week I went out every night, though nothing particularly exciting happened. I prevented a few minor car accidents and also caught a drunk driver before he hurt anyone. They were small victories, though I was excited all the same. I just didn't feel like I was making that much of a difference, which just made me anxious.

After a week of going out every night I decided to try going out during the day. It was a Monday, and I just told my dad I was going to the Library. It seemed like such a clever lie, and that was the first day my abilities were truly put to the test.

I was roaming the streets, sticking mostly to the shadows of alleyways. Occasionally someone would spot me, though my suit was dark enough that I blended in pretty easily. I was several miles from home and things had been pretty uneventful. Prevented a car accident here, an attempted ATM robbery there, etc. Then, I heard the screams.

I bolted out of hiding startling several people on the sidewalks. I raced past them and towards the comotion nearly a block away. I came flying around a corner, and that's when I saw it: a building completely engulfed in flames.

Sirens were blaring all around me. Cops had already taped off the scene and were trying to control on lookers. Firefighters were working endlessly trying to put the fire out. I managed to slip through the crowd by sticking to the corner of a building. The cops didn't see me run past them as I crossed the street. The air was uncomfortably warm and ash fell like hot snow. It felt too familiar, but I pushed my own fears away.

I overheard one firefighter tell an officer that they couldn't reach the people on the top floor. That's when I snapped into action.

I ran straight towards the building and ignored the officers yelling at me to stop. Some of them even tried to chase me but they weren't quick enough. Once I reached the base of the building, the blue light snapped to life around my hands. I pushed off as hard as I could, and flew towards the top floor. Once I was there, I grabbed the window seal and threw myself through the already shattered window.

I counted 6 people all in business attire. They were all crouched towards the ground away from the smoke, but several of them were fighting for clean air and coughing up smoke. They were surrounded by flames.

"COME TOWARDS ME!" I screamed, and they all army crawled to me as fast as they could. They were all covered in soot, and I was fighting my own mind hard to prevent a panic attack.

"The doors are all blocked, we can't get out!" One woman yelled to my right.

"I need you all to jump!" I yelled loud enough for them to hear. Several of them froze, and I didn't blame them. I wouldn't want to jump 6 stories either. "Go, NOW!" I yelled, and everyone jumped into action.

A water heater or something in the opposite direction exploded with a loud bang, and one by one they all jumped. I followed close behind. My hands lit up blue, adrenaline pumping through my veins. They all stopped, no higher than 4 feet off the ground. I descended smoothly until I landed carefully on my feet. I turned around, and carefully controlled them until each of them were safely on the ground.

Paramedics jumped into action to help the 6 people I'd just rescued. I was too distracted to notice the paramedic next to me.

"Are you okay?" He asked quickly, breathing heavily. I turned to see an older man who looked pretty agile for his age.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I brushed off. I slowly slid to the ground and sat on the pavement to try and control my breathing to prevent a panic attack. The paramedic crouched next to me, but a sound in the air stopped everything. It sounded like a missle, but I knew better. It was the last person I wanted to see.

Iron Man.

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"What the hell were you thinking?" My dad yelled, pacing back and forth. Even though I was sitting on one of the most comfortable couches in my own living room, I couldn't be more uncomfortable. He wouldn't even let me change first, so I sat in my suit with my hood and my mask down, staring at my boots that were covered in dried mud and ash. "You could have been killed! Or you could have killed somebody else. Did you ever think about that?" He asked, pacing around in his metal suit with his head exposed.

Several minutes went by, and I could feel the anger and panic radiating off of him. His suit opened up and he stepped out of it, and I could feel him walk towards me until he sat in the chair across from me, his face in his hand.

"When did all this start?" He asked, frustrated.

"Back in Malibu, a few weeks before we came home." I admitted. I leaned back on the couch, still refusing to meet his gaze.

"You're not ready to be a hero, you're too young." He stated very clearly. I sat up and forced myself to look at him.

"How many 14 year olds do you know who can move things with their mind? Even without all of my training, I'm more qualified than most adults!" I explained, trying desperately for him to see things from my perspective. I leaned forwards, desperate for my dad to really, truly hear me. "When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you."

My dad sat quietly for a moment with his thoughts, gazing off towards the wall. I could have just left, but for some reason I didn't.

"You could have died tonight. What would I have done then?" He asked, watching me. Tears welled up in his eyes, and seeing him emotional I had to fight back my own.

"And how do you think I feel every time you go off to battle?" I asked, remembering all the times I thought I'd really, truly lost him. The memories alone brought tears to my eyes. "I just wanted to be like you."