𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲?

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Malibu, California
December 21st, 2013

          CHARLOTTE SIGHED AS she zipped her small, luggage bag closed. The now twelve year old, lay on top of her bed, her blue eyes staring up at the ceiling. 

She thought that maybe she was forgetting something for a second. Because she had that feeling, something wasn't right.

Today was the transition day, she was going to leave in a couple of hours to her dad's private jet in LAX to New York, where her mom would be waiting to pick her up.

Ever since the battle of New York, Charlotte spent the majority of her weekdays in New York with her mom; the woman was still assisting with the detailing work of the newly constructed Stark Towers. She would travel back to Malibu every other weekend, in hopes of spending some quality time with her dad, but every time without fail, her dad would spend most of his time in his workshop – and sadly, she was starting to get used to it.

A lot happened in the last eighteen months. She had celebrated two birthdays and was now in the final stage of her pre-teen years, much to the shock and dismay of her parents. Happy got promoted to head of security at Stark Enterprises, and was mainly located in New York - meaning that he could spend more time with his niece.

Charlotte wished that the circumstances surrounding Ezra Hogan coming to live with her uncle were happier, but unfortunately that was not the case.

It had almost been seven months since David Hogan, Happy's younger brother, passed away unexpectedly and tragically; his wife had already passed almost a decade prior. With no other family living in the States, Ezra was placed into the care of her uncle, who with the extensive help and recommendations of the Starks, successfully gained guardianship of the young girl.

On the plus side, as Charlotte spent a lot of her time jetting between New York and Malibu, a strong friendship had quickly formed between the two girls. 

A chime from J.A.R.V.I.S reminded her that Happy would be arriving any minute to take them both to the airport. Rolling onto her stomach, she pushed herself up from her bed and picked up her small case to take it downstairs. As soon as she opened the door of her bedroom, a small squeal came out of her lips when one of her dad's Iron Man suits was on the other side, seemingly about to knock.

"Oh my god! Dad!" She exclaimed, backing away into her bedroom while clenching her chest, "I told you to stop doing that, it's so creepy!"

"Woah, someone is grouchy today." Tony's voice chimed from the helmet. Charlotte rolled her eyes and sighed. Technically, her dad has been spending some time with her – but through his suits. And that sucked. "Sorry, honey, I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm fine, I was actually on my way to talk with you," she stated as she looked at the helmet. She frowned while she spoke with him, making sure her dad could see how displeased she was with him.

She spent this week alone, sketching and studying her languages. Charlotte swam in the indoor pool and played computer games with Ezra on occasion, but she was often lonely. The highlight of each day was Rhodey or Happy occasionally coming over to visit and forcing him to join them for dinner.

But those moments were easily forgotten when her dad refused to leave the workshop, and when he did well it wasn't him.

"Talk to me? About what? Packed already, huh?" he asked quickly as the Iron Man suit walked past her, eyeing the luggage on top of her bed.

"I got bored and had nothing else to do." Charlotte shrugged, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Uh, okay?" Even when he sounded from the suit, her dad's voice still came out a bit confused. The suit turned and looked at her, and Charlotte was uncomfortable about how blank the face mask was.

"Can I just talk to you face to face?" she asked, "This is weird. What Mark is this one, dad, number forty-one?"

"It's actually number forty-two."

"Dad!" she gasped, "You didn't invite me for the birth!" mocking disappointed, she crossed her arms and huffed loudly.

She knew her dad has been working on a lot of suits, more than her mom actually knew about. It was bad, but seeing her father smile made her forget about it. Aside from that, she felt safer knowing the Iron Legion was in the same building as her.

"You were sleeping!" he defended.

She scowled at that, "Whatever. Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Are you happy?"

"What?"

"Like, right now - are you happy?"

"You know what?" Tony was quick to cut her off with a definite tone. "Happy's gonna be here any second now."

"Dad!"

"What?!" He protested, a slight smirk on his lips. "Look, Charlie, you don't need to concern yourself with my happiness. I'm fine."

"But-"

"But, nothing. Besides, it's almost Christmas so why don't you think about whatever normal twelve year old thinks about this time of year. A bike, a puppy - do you want a puppy?"

"I'm allergic to dogs, dad." Charlotte stated flatly, folding her arms across her chest once again.

"Oh, yeah." Tony hummed. "Look, can't we just have a nice chat before you go back to cold and snowy New York?" her dad begged, and Charlotte could've actually pitied him if it wasn't for the fact that a suit was in front of her, and not her dad.

"I'm coming downstairs," she stated firmly, turning around and walking out of her bedroom.

"No, wait!" he called out urgently from behind her. "There's a gas leak! Very deadly! Abort, Charlie, abort!"

Ignoring him, she hurriedly moved down the corridor and down the stairs, listening to the stomping of the suit approaching her from behind. JARVIS halted her in her tracks as she walked down the stairwell into the foyer.

"Your father is actually outside, receiving a giant bunny."

"He's what now?" she asked him quickly, and very confused.

"Ignore JARVIS, I'm not outside. I'm definitely not outside," her dad quickly implored as the suit approached.

Charlotte marched right towards the main entrance door, ignoring her father's pleas through Mark forty-five, and JARVIS had the decency to open it for her as usual.

When she stepped outdoors, she was taken aback by the sight of the huge bunny standing next to the mansion. Her father, meanwhile, stood in front of her, shutting off the holographic panel control that protruded from his glasses to give her a hesitant smile.

"So you think your mom is going to like her Christmas present?" Tony, the real one, asked as he approached her with a hopeful smile.

Charlotte's first reaction when she saw him was that he seemed exhausted, but her attention was swiftly drawn back to the massive animal, "Wow I mean, it's a bunny?"

"A big one! And cute, isn't it good? It's great, right?" he hopped each step and got to her side, "She'll love it."

Charlotte scoffed lightly, "Sure. So how are you going to fit it inside the house?" she asked while conspicuously checking on him by looking at his body from head to toes.

"Some guys are gonna come tomorrow and blow the wall," he replied casually, passing by her to get inside, "Let's go back, I wanna give you something before you go."

"Oh? You're gonna give me something? Mark isn't?" she quipped at him with a sarcastic tone.

Tony grimaced but smirked as he tugged her back inside the house, his hand in hers. She was turning into the thing he dreaded the most: a teenager. Tony was almost unable to keep up with her quips and retorts as they became faster and more intelligent.

"Hey, don't make fun of your brother right in front of him," he said while patting the now deactivated suit's chest plate.

"That thing is not my brother. It's a creepy uncle at best," she arched an eyebrow at him, and then let go of his hand to grab his arm, "Dad, what's this?" she asked while passing her fingers over the round scars spread on his arm.

"Micro-repeater implants. Mark forty-two is special, I can call him. Now the suit pieces fly to me," he explained as best as he could.

"That's amazing," Charlotte admitted, looking at her dad with an awed expression, "That's really cool, dad!" she grinned.

And Tony copied her grin, "Heck yeah it is!"

"Sir, Miss Stark, Happy has just informed me that he will arrive in ten minutes." JARVIS suddenly inputted.

After a brief silence, Charlotte sighed and rubbed the side of her arm, "Dad why did you send the suit again?"

Tony began feeling cautious already, every time Charlotte would look at him sadly he'd panic, "I-uh, I didn't want you to feel jealous of your mom's gift."

Charlotte felt that his answer had been delivered so flawless that there was no way he was lying.

Was her dad that oblivious about his absence? Did he really think she cared about the giant bunny?

"What about you and mom?" she pressed, "Will we be together for Christmas? Or will it be like last year?"

Christmas last year had been different. After the fall out of New York, as CEO, Pepper had been required to stay close by Stark Towers for the majority of the year to oversee the building process. This meant that last Christmas, the Charlotte had to spend Christmas Eve with her dad and Christmas day with her mom.

She hated that. They were a family, a close knit family, they should never be apart.

Tony's left eye twisted at her question as he suddenly turned around, "I have your gift right here. Since you're spending Christmas with your mom, again." he turned around and walked away from her, towards the sofa in front of the fireplace.

Charlotte frowned, "Why are you avoiding my question?"

"Because I'm fine. Your mom is happy, at least I think she is. You are happy, at least I think you are. So that makes me happy. That's it, end of conversation." 

"But, dad -"

"Again, but nothing Charlie. You don't need to concern yourself with whether or not I am happy or not! I know that it might seem difficult, but you're a kid, so just try being a kid!" Tony suddenly snapped at her, turning to face her with a wrapped box as he fetched it from the coffee table.

She flinched at his abrupt outburst, but she had expected it given how well she knew her father. He didn't enjoy it when others pressed him about things that bothered him, and she felt awful for doing it, but she was also worried about her parents' happiness.

"I'm sorry..." she meekly mumbled, "I'm just worried dad, about you and about everything"

Tony quickly lost his snappy expression into a saddened one, "Oh, honey, don't apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's okay, dad. I'll stop asking. But don't think that you can't talk to me about anything. I'm there for you, like you are for me."

He smiled at her, and decided to finally walk up to her and hand her the gift, "You're growing up too quickly, I don't like it."

Charlotte grinned as she looked at the wrapped, small box in her hands, "You don't have a choice, dad."

Tony sighed and ruffled Charlotte's hair, "You can only open that on Christmas day, don't forget that," and drew Charlotte in for a hug. Charlotte wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him back. They haven't hugged in a long time.

"Dad?"

"Yes, honey?"

"You need to take a shower, you stink," she deadpanned, smiling when her dad let out a laugh.

"All right, I'll take note of that."

"Happy will be arriving in three minutes," JARVIS informed them.

"Go get your things kiddo, I'll wait here," her dad told her with a gentle tone.

Charlotte gave a little smile and dashed up the stairs to her room to retrieve her belongings. Tony was left downstairs, and his smile vanished as soon as she went, and his demeanor grew exhausted and solemn. He massaged his eyes and pretended not to notice the scorching feeling.

"Sir, I would advise–"

"Thanks but no thanks JARVIS, I'm fine," Tony grumbled as he interrupted the worrying tone that his AI was transmitting.

"Once again sir, your stubbornness has won."

"As always," the genius nodded with a sudden cocky smirk.
  

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authors note

just a short chapter to ease us into iron man 3.

it's going to be a ride