𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐲

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The following morning

Malibu Point

          TONY STOOD IN FRONT of his daughter's bedroom door, which was partially open, allowing him to see her peacefully sleeping on her bed. He inhaled deeply and entered, shutting the door behind him.

"Charlie?" he asked, apologizing for waking her up so early. Tony sat on the edge of her bed, watching her stir. "Charlotte, honey, wake up," he said.

"Charlie..." he began patting her gently, smiling affectionately when she scrunched her nose as her sleep was disturbed.

When she felt a sat on her bed, the seven-year-old slowly opened her eyes and rubbed her eyes as a yawn escaped her mouth, making her speech more of a grumble, "Good morning."

"Sorry, I don't speak satsquash." he quipped, making her stare at him with a sleepy smile, "Honey, I have to go back to Washington. There's going to be another Capitol hearing."

"Another one?" Charlotte mumbled as she buried her arms further into her duvet, enjoying the warmth of the soft material provided from the chilled coastal breeze. "When are you leaving?"

"I've got a few minutes, but I want to talk with you first, it that okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled. "Can you stay for breakfast?" she asked hopefully, the events from last night were still in her mind, she wanted him to be near. She didn't want him to leave, not now, not ever. "We can have waffles," she said hopefully.

"Sorry, honey but I really can't. There's a lot of things I need to sort out-"

"What happened, Dad?" She interrupted him, her gaze fixed on him. She was puzzled as to why he was avoiding mentioning what had occurred. He'd been putting it off for a week.

Tony, on the other hand, gave her a blank look. Charlotte had never done this before, and he was proud that she could see through his bullshit, but he was also shocked – this was new to him. "I'm going to speak to you like a grown-up, it's important that you listen to me, okay?"

As he extended his arm towards Charlotte, he took a deep breath and beckoned her to hold hands with him. "Honey," he began, and Tony felt more reassured when she put her small hand on his, "I was dying."

Charlotte sat quietly for a moment. She didn't speak or move, she simply sat there, staring at her father. At first, Tony found her lack of response a little alarming; he noticed that she had not even blinked more than half a dozen times and for a whole minute, she was completely silent.

"You were dying?" She eventually spoke meekly, her voice was namely a whisper, and Tony noticed how her words cracked in the middle. "I don't want you to die."

Tony was quick to rush forward and wrap the girl up in his arms. Pressing a hand to her head, keeping her tucked to his chest, he attempted to soothe her.

"I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon," he mumbled quietly against the top of her head, placing a quick kiss to her crown.

"You promise?"

"I promise," he confirmed. Charlotte simply nodded and slowly raised her head to look at him. As he saw the grief-stricken look on his daughter's face, it felt as though a chain had been coiled around his heart and it was being weighed down. "Charlie, I am so sorry." he hugged her tightly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"What happened?" The child asked, wiping her eyes.

"You see this?" He pointed to the arc reactor sitting under his shirt, tapping it twice. "Well, it turns out that although it is stopping shrapnel from reaching my heart, it was also slowly poisoning me. There was palladium in my blood, and apparently, that's not a good thing."

Charlotte thought for a moment, staring down at the aforementioned Arc Reactor. "Is that why you were mean to me, and mom? At your party?"

Tony nodded slowly, his eyes softening as he remembered how he had treated his wife and daughter, and so publicly too.

"I've made some horrible mistakes in my life, but nothing even came close to how I treat you and your mother that night." He sighed, brushing away a stray tear that was threatening to escape. It was rare for Tony to show emotion to anyone, even to Charlotte - his father had always made him believe that showing emotion was a sign of weakness.

"I didn't know how to handle to the concept that I would leave you both alone."

When those dark thoughts returned, he choked back a sob, "I couldn't stop imagining not being there for you - watching you grow into a woman, or seeing you graduate–" he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, "not seeing you smile or hearing you laugh and make fun of me every time I screw something up," Tony heard Charlotte sniffle as she continued to cling to him.

"I'd even regret missing the day when you turn into a hormonal teenager who despises me for no apparent reason," he mumbled weakly. "But now everything is back to normal. I'm going to be here to see all of that and more. I swear I'm not going anywhere."

"Dad," Charlotte cried, her tears falling on his shirt, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, honey," he looked up at the ceiling to keep his tears from falling, "I know that it feels like everyone is keeping secrets from you, and I'm sorry about that. But I need you to understand that adults sometimes, mainly your dad, are idiots. You just need to remember that you mean the absolute world to me, your mother too; and if I have to protect you from some ugly truths to keep you safe – then I will."

She sniffed and pulled back from the embrace just enough to look him in the eyes. As tears streaked Charlotte's cheeks, she said, "But I can handle it, I'm a big girl now."

"You're absolutely right," With a smile, he reached for the tissue box on her nightstand. He put a tissue in front of her nose and said, "Blow," which she did, making a slight trumpet sound. "But you'll always be my little girl. No matter what," he said, placing the tissue on the nightstand with a disgusted expression on his face, which made her laugh.

"Dad," she whined, "I'm serious!"

"Oh boy, that's not good," he quipped but stopped when he saw Pepper's upset expression through their daughter, "Okay, I'm sorry. That's all I wanted to say," He inhaled sharply and placed a hand on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks and giving them a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry for being reckless, for scaring you, for hurting your uncle, and for what I did to you this month," he said. He was shocked Charlotte hadn't had a mental breakdown at this point; the little girl clearly had a powerful mind of her own.

"Tony?" her mother inquired as she knocked on the doorframe. She gave the pair a soft smile as she entered the room.

"Natasha has knocked on your door. She's arrived to take you to your super top-secret meeting," With a roll of her eyes, Pepper supposed that the meeting was no longer a secret.

"Natasha's here?" Charlotte suddenly asked.

Her mother then took a step to the left, allowing the little girl to see Natalie through the doorway. With the exception of the fact that she was dressed in a black, full-length suit that was incredibly tight, Charlotte couldn't imagine how the woman could move or even breathe in such a garment.

"Hi, Ms. Rushman!" Charlotte greeted her brightly, before pausing for a second to correct herself. "I mean, Miss Romanoff."

Natasha looked at Tony, who gave her a polite nod. She then entered Charlotte's room and took a seat near the foot of her bed, "My name is actually Natasha Romanoff. I'm sorry for lying to you, but I had to. It's my job."

"Your job is to lie?" Charlotte seemed baffled and wounded, and Natasha felt a pull at her chest for the first time in a long time.

"It's complicated," she explained to the young girl. "I work for S.H.I.E.L.D., and I know you met Agent Coulson last year," Natasha started, her voice soft. She had to remind herself that she was conversing with a child; this was her typical clientele.

Charlotte nodded, an awed look on her expression, "You're a secret spy? I want to be a spy too, like Natasha!" As she looked between her parents, she was giddy with excitement.

"Uh-oh," Tony muttered and the three adults chuckled.

"Maybe one day," Natasha said, pleased that Charlotte didn't seem upset with her. She had found herself becoming fond of the seven-year-old, who seemed to be the key in keeping Tony Stark grounded.

Besides, the look on Charlotte's face was priceless, she was just a kid so why crush her expectations with harsh truths of her being an agent and assassin? When Charlotte was older, she realized the fact. And when Director Fury made the decision he did, Natasha had a feeling S.H.I.E.L.D would not let Stark go. She had a feeling that she would see Charlotte Stark again.

"Wow," Charlotte whispered to herself, "Are you still going to teach me what you did to Happy?" she asked, more shyly now.

"Uh–I think Agent Romanoff has to take me somewhere, doesn't she?" Tony swiftly changed the conversation, whilst passing a somewhat panicked glance at Natasha. Charlotte was too young–far to be learning combat skills from an international assassin. Pepper had no resentment toward Natasha, but she was worried about what her daughter would learn from her.

"Sorry Charlotte, but we really have to go," Natasha said, smiling at the little girl before looking at Tony and saying, "Follow me," and the redhead was out of the door.

Tony was quick to comply, "I'll see you in a couple of days. Behave yourself," He kissed the top of his daughter's head as he winked at her. "That goes for you too," Tony quipped, pressing a quick kiss to Pepper's lips as he exited the room.

Rolling her eyes, Pepper followed them to walk them out, leaving Charlotte alone in her bedroom. The girl sighed and lay her head back down, her mood has changed drastically. Her fear of her father dying remained, but she would trust him if he said he was well now. She just couldn't believe everything that had happened the past week, Natalie was actually named Natasha and she was a spy, her dad had been dying but he was okay now.

Then there was the attack at The Expo - oh!

She pulled the sheets from her bed and quickly sat up. "Mom!" she called out as she hastily pulled on her temporary prosthesis. She almost fell down when her sheets tangled around her shin. She was able to catch herself before running outside, down the hall, and finding that her mother had begun heading to her room. "Mom!" she gasped.

"What? What's wrong?!" Pepper asked urgently after hearing frantic footsteps and a brief commotion from her daughter's room.

"What about that family that helped me?" she asked her mom with a panicked tone, "Are they okay?"

"I'm sure they're fine. Security managed to evacuate the pavilion before they began detonating the drone," with a smile, she told her daughter

"Really?"

"Yes! Remember, I was there?" She comforted her. "I gave Mrs. Parker my phone number in case she needed to contact me. I'm certain she will." Pepper softly cupped her face and kissed her on the head .

"Now go take a shower. You smell like explosions."

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author's note

the next chapter will be the final chapter of iron man 2!