The Rise of The Guardian

Please, Just get on the Plane!

I heard the front door slam open and shut signifying that my dad was home from Vegas. I also heard him and someone else making their way up the steps hastily which tells me he brought a guest home. I pulled myself out of the bed to grab my headphones to block out the sounds coming from my dad's room.

I curled back up in my bed reading another article about energy consumption in drones, hoping to find a key to my power usage problem.

At some point last night I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember was Pepper knocking on my door. I quickly rolled out of the bed and opened the door to see Pepper looking frustrated.

"What did I do now?" I asked her instinctively.

"Not you, your father."

"Oh, well. I don't know what he has done but, are you surprised?"

"I'm not and that is why I am waking you up. I am going to need your help to make sure your father gets to the airport by six."

"Six in the afternoon?"

"Six in the morning." It dawned on me that it is still dark outside.

"What time is it?" I said moving into my room to grab my cellphone.

"It is five in the morning. So, we have exactly one hour for him to get there." I laughed at her optimism.

"He is not going to be there on time. You will be lucky to get him there by seven."

"That is why I need your help. While I make sure his guest leaves you will go down to the lab to get him to stop working and get ready." I looked at her, debating if I should fight her on this or not. However, I could see that it would be a losing battle.

"Fine, let me just go to the bathroom and brush my teeth."

"Thank you." She quickly turns around and walks away.

I quickly did my morning routine and made my way to my dad's garage. As I walked down the steps I noticed him working on one of his cars through the glass. He didn't notice me as I entered my code into the keypad opening the door.  I made my way into the room quietly and decided that I might as well have fun with my task. I walked over to the driver-side of the car he was working on and pushed my hand down on the horn. The loud blaring sound made my dad jump back and his face was priceless. His eyes were huge and his mouth gaped open.

"What was that?" He yelled and I had to burst out laughing.

"You need to get ready for your trip and I need to go make a cup of coffee," I said walking past him to the door.  I stopped when out of the corner of my eye I noticed him going back to work on the car. I turned right around and tapped on his shoulder.

"What?" He looked at me annoyed but I could care less.

"Pepper says that you need to be at the airport in about forty-five minutes. You need to stop working on your precious car and go pack!" I took the tool out of his hand throwing it down in the toolbox. I stomped away and headed into the kitchen where I could make my much needed coffee.

I was sitting on the kitchen counter sipping my hot cup of coffee, when I heard Pepper entering through the front door. She walked past me not noticing me sitting on the counter, I noticed that she had fresh dry cleaning in one hand and her phone in the other.

"Taking out the trash?" I commented. Causing her to spin around suddenly to face me.

"Alex, you scared me. I didn't know you were there."

"It seems like the theme this morning."

"Is he on his way to the airport yet?" I let out a short sarcastic laugh.

"I sent your message. But he hasn't emerged from the garage yet." She responded by rolling her eyes and preceded out of the room, probably to go finish taking out the trash.

I finished my coffee and promptly placed the mug in the sink to wash later. A short high pitched chime filled the room, notifying me that I received a text message. I pulled it out and flipped it open to see a message from Clay.

Are you coming tonight? - C

That is the plan. Everything in order? - A

You know it is. - C

Clay and I have been friends since we were ten. Bonded over the animosity we held toward our parents for sending us to boarding school. I had already been there three years when Clay's parents enrolled him. We have become inseparable over the years and we don't plan for that to change since we graduated.

Clay is throwing a party at his parents house since they are gone at some lawyer conference in Florida. Clay's parties were always large and usually end with the police being called because some idiots decide to beat the shit of each other.

I see Pepper going down to the garage as I walked out to the living room. It was now seven in the morning and my father has not left for the airport yet.

Going up the unnecessarily large staircase to my bedroom I planned my outfit for the day before taking a shower. I may have taken a longer shower than is necessary but my thoughts got the better of me and I lost track of time.

I often wonder what my life would be like if my mother didn't die. I don't remember a lot about her except from what I have heard from family. She was a simple woman from what I have been told. Put others before herself and sadly her selflessness led to her death. A drunk driver hit her, while she was on her way to pick up her best friend, Sarah, who was drunk at a nightclub in Santa Barbara. I was five at the time and was in the care of the old lady who lived two doors down in the apartment complex.

A few things I know for sure is that if my mother didn't die, I wouldn't have been sent to boarding school and Tony Stark would just be a man I see on magazine covers, not the man entrusted to raise me. My mother would have probably told me eventually that he was my father, but it would have probably been during my awkward teenage years where I relentlessly bugged her about who my father is until she told me.

I also know she would have been to my high school graduation that took place a few months ago. Tony was to busy with work and girls to attend. Pepper was there though. Pepper made a point to be a mother figure to me since my dad hired her. I was twelve at the time and did not take the new attention well. Eventually I started to open up to her and became grateful for all the effort she put in to being there for me. However, she could not fill the whole that was missing in my life.

Deciding to not wallow in my thoughts any longer I turned off the comforting stream of water and wrapped my hair in a towel.

It was now eight in the morning and I was dressed, ready for the day, with nothing to do until the party tonight. I could work on the drones but with the battery life dead end, I did not have much to work on. I relented to watching TV in the living room until I had to get ready for the party.

I was watching Grey's Anatomy when my dad came barreling down the stairs with a duffle bag.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do while I am gone Alex." What so I shouldn't spend a quiet night in the house reading a good book or watching TV. I wasn't planning to anyway with the party tonight but the thought brought a small smile to my face.

"Bye dad."

With that he is gone.