ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ɪʀᴏɴ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ

Everything I Do Is For Her

{Chapter Nine}

The next afternoon Abby sat at the kitchen island doing her homework when she heard an explosion below her feet, in her father's workshop. Jumping down from the stool she was seated on she decided to go and investigate.

Standing at the top of the stairs she screamed when she saw the glass smashing, jumping back and moving to sit on the floor next to the couch.

After a few minutes, she stood again and slowly made her way down the stairs to see her father stood as machines around him dressed him in the suit.

"Dad?" She asked wearily as the mask was placed on his face.

"I'll be back soon, munchkin," Tony spoke before taking off in the suit.

Abby frowned when she saw her father disappear before turning and picking up a broom. She used to sweep the floors of her mother's cafe when she was there. Though her mother never let her clean up the broken glass Abby didn't see the problem with it.

Once the glass was all swept into a pile, Abby took a cloth and used it to move the glass into a trashcan. As she was getting rid of the last of the glass a piece dug into her finger through a hole in the cloth.

The small girl gasped dropping the cloth, along with the rest of the glass, into the bin and looked at her finger that was now dripping with blood. She moved to the counter and took a paper towel, from beside the coffee pott, and wrapped it around the injured finger.

Once her finger was wrapped the girl moved over to the floor near her father's worktop to see a photo on the floor. The girl slowly reached down picking the photo up, with her uninjured hand as not to get it bloodied.

Looking down at the photo a small smile appeared on Abby's face. She had never asked her mother about Tony. She hadn't seen the point, the mother-daughter duo was perfectly fine on their own. However, it was times like these that she wished she had.

The photo showed her parents. Sarah James had a large smile on her face, as she looked to be mid-laugh leaning back against Tony Stark who's eyes shined with amusement. Abby focused on her mother who was practically glowing with happiness. She had never seen her that happy with anyone else, not even with her boyfriend she was with when Abby was young. It made the young girl wonder what had pulled them apart.

Abby sat on the couch looking down at the bloodied paper towel wrapped around her finger before unwrapping it. With furrowed eyebrows, the girl examined the finger that was now clear of any cut, or even scar. Placing the stained paper towel into a trashcan.

Shaking the thought away Abby glanced at the photo again before laying down on the couch, sighing.

"Jarvis?" The girl called out in a tired voice.

"Yes, Miss Stark?" The AI replied.

"Where's my dad?" She asked trying to stifle a yawn.

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that information," Jarvis answered causing the girl to sigh before closing her eyes.

She didn't know how it happened but within seconds the girl had fallen into a peaceful sleep. The sleeping girl barely even stirred when Tony arrived back in the workshop with a clatter and a bang.

Tony looked over at the sleeping girl with a soft smile on his face before attempting to remove the suit. Pepper followed the banging sound through the house into the workshop to find machines struggling to pull the metal suit from his body.

"What's going on?" Pepper asked causing Tony to look over at her with a surprised expression.

"Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you have found me doing." Tony shrugged.

"Are those bullet holes?" The woman breathed.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Barely scratched the surface." The man finally found his way out of the suit stepping down to approach the woman.

"Where the hell did you go?"

"I had a... uhh.... training exercise." Tony stuttered.

"You have got to be kidding me?!" Pepper yelled.

"Shhh! There is a sleeping child in the room." Tony whispered bringing the woman's attention to the small girl on the couch causing her to sigh.

"How long has she been asleep?"

"I don't know, I just got back. I'm gonna take her upstairs so she can sleep somewhere more comfortable." Tony shrugged.

Pepper walked over to the girl and crouched down in front of her. She smiled slightly at how peaceful the girl looked, before glancing down at the photo laid beside the girl.

"I didn't even know I still had that," Tony spoke in a quiet voice behind her, his eyes on the photo.

"She misses her mother." Pepper smiled softly.

"You know, I was so mad at her. Sarah, I mean, for keeping my daughter from me. We were in contact months after she left and she never mentioned anything. I missed so much of her life. But then every time Abby smiled up at me all I could see was Sarah. It doesn't matter when I entered her life, she's still my daughter and I have Sarah to thank for that." Pepper looked up at the man with a look that could only be described as admiration. She knew how much Tony loved Sarah all those years ago, and she knew he always would.

"You know I think she looks more like you. The first time I saw her it was easy to see she is your daughter." Pepper informed as Tony moved around her to pick his daughter up so he could take her to her room.

Pepper followed the father and daughter duo upstairs and watched as the man put the girl to bed.

"Sleep well, munchkin," Tony whispered, kissing the girl's head before walking out of the room and softly closing the door behind him. 

Tony and Pepper walked down the stairs of the Malibu Mansion until Pepper sighed stopping and turning to her boss.

"Tony. You can't go out on "training exercises" and come back with bullet holes on the suit. What if Abby had woken up and seen them. She has already lost one parent don't let her lose another." The woman spoke.

"I know." Tony sighed, "But she's growing up. And I don't want her to become an adult in a world where her name is associated with the deaths of innocent people. What was happening in Gulmira needed to be stopped. I did it for my daughter. Everything I do is for her."

"I know"