𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

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May 29th

9:30PM
Malibu Point, California

          CHARLOTTE GRINNED AS Happy pulled up to the mansion. She could barely contain her excitement as she bounced in her seat. Her excitement to give her had his gift was apparent, however, she was also excited for him to see the dress she had picked for the occasion. The lilac dress was one that her dad had brought from Italy, on his most recent business trip.

Happy drove down the gravel path to the garage and Charlotte unbuckled her seatbelt and bolted out of the car as soon as he parked and switched off the engine, heading straight upstairs.

"Charlie, wait!" Pepper called as she got out of the car.

Huffing, she turned to her mom with a pout, "Mom, hurry up! I have to give had his gift!" Charlotte did not wait for her mom to respond, she rushed out of the garage, the heels of her small formal shows clicked on the tiled floor.

"Hi JARVIS!" She called out as she bolted up the stairs to the upper floor of the mansion.

"Welcome home, Ms. Stark." the AI ​​replied, quite happily.

The number of people inside her dad's house was instantly overwhelming. The mansion seemed so small to her now and she was able to slip through the crowds, undetected. Fortunately, all of the adults present were already intoxicated and were enjoying the party.

She was confused. Were these people her dad's friends? She thought that she knew all of her dad's friends, and she did not recognise a single person here - apart from her mom, Happy, and her uncle Rhodey.

As she searched for her dad, Charlotte dodged through the crowd, trying not to get jostled as she did not want to risk dropping the small box that she had clutched to her chest. She was proud of her present and found it amusing that it was neatly wrapped with red foil and a large golden bow. 

She entered the lobby after a moment of searching, grinning widely as she was able to skip the crowd and get to the centre, eventually seeing her dad dressed completely in his Iron Man suit.

She watched her dad danced around the small makeshift stage area, he was laughing with the DJ and mingling with other party-goers.

A hand touched her shoulder and she turned around to see her mom standing next to her, an exasperated expression on her face. Pepper gently guided Charlotte into a quieter room.

"I want to see dad," Charlotte whined.

"Sorry sweetie," her mom sighed, glancing over her shoulder to where her husband was still entertaining his guests. "Your dad's a little busy at the moment."

Before Charlotte could protest, she caught sight of her Uncle Rhodey approaching them. She smiled gleefully for she had not seen her uncle since the hearing at the Capitol. However, when she saw the tense expression on his face, she felt wary.  Approaching the pair, Rhodey managed to smile as the small girl looked up at him with worried eyes.

"Hey there, baby girl," he said as Charlotte hugged him around his middle. Bending down he returned her gesture, patting her on the back. "What did I tell you about getting bigger? You're going to be taller than me at this ra

"Hi, Uncle Rhodey!" she grinned. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, sweetheart." He smiled at her, then looked at the woman standing behind his goddaughter, "Hey, Pepper,"

"I need to get some air," Pepper replied. She sounded a little panicked. "Can you please watch over her?"

"What's going on?" Rhodey asked, his voice laced with concern.

While holding Charlotte's hand and tagging her along, Rhodey followed Pepper around the corner only to discover that Tony was still dancing on stage, "I don't know what to do," she sighed.

"You gotta be kidding me," Rhodey sighed.

"What?" she looked at her dad, and then at them, "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice becoming whiny.

Suddenly, with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, Tony staggered off the stage. For a second, the crowd and Charlotte looked worried that he would fall down, but her dad stood up again, indicating that he was all right - and then the cheering began.

Charlotte frowned, still confused by what was happening. "Is dad drunk?"
She did know if that was a good or a bad thing. It was his birthday after all, so she thought that it was okay. However, this was a side to her dad that she had not seen before. He had made a promise to Pepper, a long time ago, that his partying days were over, and he would never let their daughter be subjected to the drunken state that used to frequently get himself in.

Rhodey scowled down at Charlotte, then glared at his friend. He couldn't fathom why Tony was so publicly making a fool of himself, especially when his daughter standing in front of him. "That's it," he stated in disgust, turning to go. "I'm making -"

"No, no, no, don't call anyone!" pleaded Pepper, tugging on his arm.

Charlotte looked between her mother and uncle, her expression was one of worry, "What's wrong? Is dad in trouble?" she asked and Rhodey looked sadly at the child, before turning back to Pepper.

"Pepper. This is ridiculous!" he snapped, but still tried to remain calm for Charlotte's sake. "Look at how he is acting in front of Charlie! He promised he would never let her see him like this; look at the state he is in. I just stuck my neck out for this guy, and he's parading around in that suit like a circus act!" he pointed at Tony, to make his statement more clear.

Charlotte flinched at his tone, then looked at her dad again, hugging his gift a little closer to her chest. She was

"I know," Pepper insisted repeatedly, "I get it. I'm gonna handle it, okay? Just let me handle it."

"Handle it, or I'm gonna have to." Rhodey firmly told her, his tone was final.

Charlotte looked up at her uncle with a sad smile as Pepper left them. Rhodey looked at her and, as he sighed tiredly, his angry stance relaxed, "I wish I could tell you what is going on, honey, but you just wouldn't understand," he placed his hand on her shoulder again, "I promise that everything is going to be okay. Your dad just isn't feeling well at the moment."

Charlotte could only nod, looking sadly at the stage as she watched her parents interact on the staged area. Her dad had been slurring into the microphone he was holding up to her mom's mouth; the woman looked visibly uncomfortable.

Pepper took the microphone from him with a nervous smile, "Does this man knows how to throw a party or what?" she improvised, getting wild cheers from the guests, "Tony, we all thank you so much for a wonderful night. And we're gonna say goodnight now and thank you all for coming."

"No, no, no!" Tony started insisting, "We haven't even had the cake yet! 

"You're out of control, okay?" Pepper whispered to Tony, "Just send everyone home, okay? It's time to go."

"If you say so," Tony huffed, his bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

"Okay, I'll take this," she took the alcohol bottle from his hands, ignoring his quiet protests. "You take that," she handed him the microphone, "and tell everyone to get out of our house."

"Pepper. My beautiful wife," Tony said into the microphone, he stumbled over his words as he continued to slur. There was a small spattering of uncertain applause from the party guests. "She's right, the party's over." The crowd groaned, annoyed that their night was being cut short. However, Tony went on, "Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in fifteen minutes!"

Pepper shut her eyes briefly, inhaling deeply as she tried to compose herself. Rhodey cast his gaze down to Charlotte, she was still holding tightly onto his hand; she looked down at the present she had bought for her dad with a sad face. Anger surged inside Rhodey, as he looked up at Tony, a hard glare set on his brow.

"And if anybody - Pepper - doesn't like it," Tony continued, jerking his head in the direction opposite to where she stood, "There's the door!" And before anyone could respond, he raised his free hand and used his hand repulsor to send a blast of energy towards the glass pane behind him. As it shattered to the floor, everyone around ducked quickly out of the way of the glass spray.

Charlotte screamed and Rhodey swiftly tugged her behind him, keeping her shielded behind his legs as he watched on in disbelief. Tony seemed to respond to his daughter's scream, staring at the crowd until his eyes finally fell upon Charlotte. As she poked her head out from behind Rhodey's legs, he flashed her a drunk, toothy grin.

"Charlie, come here honey! Oh, you look so pretty tonight! Where has my baby girl gone?" He went to take a step forward, but in his drunken haze his steps were staggered and he had to take a moment to compose himself. "Come give your old man a birthday hug," once again he started making his way towards the shocked little girl, but Pepper stood in front of her, a protective arm around her shoulder.

"Tony," she kept her voice low and stern. "Stop. You're scaring our daughter."

"Scaring her? Look at her, she's fine!" Tony scoffed and laughed as he pointed at the crowd that was watching closely. "I think everyone is having a good time. They all enjoyed it!"

Pepper shot a desperate glance at Rhodey, who could only watch as one of the women in the crowd threw a bottle of champagne into the air. With perfect aim, Tony blew up the bottle, once again sending glass shattering to the floor. Rhodey scowled once more when he felt Charlotte tense against his side.

"We're leaving–" Pepper declared, marching over to her daughter. She firmly took her hand from Rhodey's. As soon as Charlotte was safely tucked in Pepper's side, Rhodey quickly left the room. "Rhodey, where are you going?!" she asked urgently.

The crowd of people that were occupying her home, appeared to be retreating now, "Charlie, watch this!" she heard her dad exclaim, signalling to an obviously intoxicated woman, who proceeded to throw a watermelon into the air. Tony wasted no time in blasting it with his chest plate.

While Charlotte has to admit that the stunt her dad had just performed was a little cool, she could not help but feel annoyed as she looked down at the small chunks of watermelon that were now splattered on her dress.

Suddenly, she heard her uncle speak with a firm and loud tone: "I'm only going to say this once," he shouted over the cheering as the crowd dispersed to reveal her uncle standing, armed in a more recent mark of Iron Man suit, "Get out!".

"Let's go, Charlie," Pepper said side stepping out of the way of fleeing party goers.

"Mom, no," Charlotte whined. "I want to stay with dad." Even though she was extremely confused as to why her dad was acting like this, she did not want to leave. Her protests were in vain as Pepper placed both of her hands on her daughter's shoulders and swiftly marched her towards the door. Confused, angry and scared, Charlotte started crying about the whole situation.

"Natalie!" Pepper barked as she stalked through the front room which opened onto the street. She gently tugged Charlotte back against her legs, keeping the child close at all times.

"Mrs Stark -" Natalie began, appearing suddenly in front of Pepper.

"Don't you 'Mrs Stark' me!" Pepper shouted angrily, her finger leveled like a drawn dagger at the other woman. "I'm onto you! Do not think that I did not see the little show you decided to put on with my husband. You should just be thankful, that Charlie did not -"

She was abruptly cut off when Tony and Rhodey came crashing down through the ceiling and into the room, nearby them. Charlotte's eyes widened at the scene as her mom exclaimed.

Happy urgently came running back into the house while Tony and Rhodey proceeded to fight "Pepper! Charlie!" he cried out, grabbing a hold of them and dragging them both out of the house quickly, knowing he couldn't do anything else.

Fearing for her sake, Charlotte frantically looked for Natalie, but she was only confused when she saw the woman briskly walk in another direction, turning behind her to make sure she was not being pursued.

Tony suddenly smacked Rhodey onto the floor, "You want it?! Take it!" he shouted, causing Charlotte to cower fearfully behind her mom. Pepper came to a standstill in the living room, as she watched the two friends fight.

"Tony! Stop it!" Pepper shouted desperately, feeling her daughter's shoulders shaking under her hands.

But instead of using his weaponry, Tony began brawling with fists, now they were beating each other as the crowd watched in shocked awe. The scrap briefly ceased when Tony smashing Rhodey through a table. Pepper looked around in horror as the people around her began to take pictures, which would no doubt make the headline of every media outlet the following morning.

Tony passed his gaze around the room, and his eyes fell on Pepper, Happy, and then finally Charlotte. Inside his helmet, his angry expression sobered instantly, when he realised that she was scared. She was scared of him. His anger suddenly returned as his eyes locked with his daughter, only for her to physically flinch and turn her face into Pepper's side. He had become a monster in her eyes. 

Out of rage, he screamed savagely at the crowd, and everyone fled screaming in terror. Every one of them, except Pepper and Charlotte.

His daughter flinched and then stared at him as tears rolled down her cheeks, a sad smile on her face. He immediately regretted everything. He regretted drinking, he regretted putting the suit on to hide the conflicted and pained expression on his face.

'Oh God, what have I done?'

Suddenly, while he was distracted, Rhodey smacked Tony in the head with a broken tabletop, sending the drunk billionaire tumbling into the fireplace, embers cascaded around him. Once Tony pulled herself out, he lifted his hand as Rhodey did the same.

"Tony, put your hand down," Rhodey said, he glanced quickly at Pepper and began to feel his anger rising again as he saw his goddaughter cowering from her own father, "Pepper, get Charlie out of here. Right now!" he told her urgently.

Pepper quickly grabbed Charlotte again and made a move to leave, "Dad, stop it!" She yelled as loud as her small body would allow her.

"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" Tony's tone was dark and somewhat menacing, as he ignored his daughter's pleas.

"We don't have to do this Tony," Rhodey pleaded. "Think about Charlie."

"You wanna be the War Machine?" Tony goaded his friend, jutting his chin out in an aggressive manner, "Take your shot."

"Dad, please! Stop it!" Charlotte screaming as she struggled against the strong grip her mom had on her shoulders. Finally, Pepper managed to get her daughter out of the balcony safely. Happy spotted them quickly and helped her bring the struggling child away from the battle.

"Let me go!" Charlotte cried as she squirmed in Pepper's hold, almost causing the woman to stumble over her feet.

"Charlotte Maria Stark!" Pepper yelled angrily. "It is not safe for us to be here anymore. We have to leave! Now, stop this behaviour right now and listen to me!" She desperately wanted her daughter to listen to her, and to understand, but she could not do that if the child was protesting her every move.

Charlotte continued to resist her mother and squirm in her arms. Happy stepped in and effortlessly picked the girl up and promptly placed her on his hip. He then placed a hand on Pepper's back and began to guide the mother and daughter towards the door.

A sudden explosion was heard that broke all the remaining glass on the balcony where they once stood. Happy turned his back, keeping Pepper and Charlottes tucked protectively in front of him as he shielded the pair from any potential debris. The shockwave that rippled through the ground left a cloud of smoke billowing out of the broken windows.

"Dad! Uncle Rhodey!" Charlotte yelled, and due to the distraction of the explosion, managed to slip out of Happy's grasp. She ran back into the living room and watched as her uncle Rhodey abruptly take flight and leave. She involuntarily inhaled the smokey air, causing her to cough as she timidly entered the smog-filled room - she ignored the calls of her angry mother and concerned bodyguard. Catching a glimpse of the flickering lights of the Iron Man suit, she hurried over to the fireplace.

"D-Dad?" she called out, fearfully.

"Charlie!" her mom called from behind her. Pepper stood on the balcony, her voice cut as she gazed around at the devastation in dismay, "Where's your uncle?"

"He left. I think he was okay," She answered, her eyes trained on her dad's suit. "Dad," Charlotte whispered, stopping in front of her dad. He did not react, he seemed to be staring right through her. "Are you hurt?"

Instantly, Tony's eyes filled. He had just become a rage-filled and chaotic beast in front of her, she had witnessed what he had done, and she asked if he was hurt? He didn't deserve her, and Charlotte couldn't see him die - he did not want that for her, ever. He stood up slowly, using the fireplace to support him, and Charlotte stood as well, looking at him with concerned eyes.

As Tony turned his back and began walking toward the balcony, Charlotte followed him. She was confused as to why he had not answered her. Was he mad at her? 

"Tony," Pepper's voice was still stern, but it was quieter as she called after her husband. "I'm not even going to begin to pretend that I know what is happening. I don't understand why you did it, but Tony," she sighed, stepping into the room, her heels crunching under the glass and rubble that covered the floor. "Tony, you're scaring me and you're scaring our daughter." Her voice trailed off as she reached him. She went to place a hand on his back, but he harshly shrugged his shoulder and brushed past her, getting to the edge of the balcony.

"I'm going to leave now, and I'm taking Charlie," Pepper whispered, a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks as she dropped her hands to her side. The sting of rejection pierced her heart. "Let me know when you decide that you are ready to tell me what is going on with you." She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, not wanting her daughter to see her cry.

"We don't keep secrets in this family, Tony. You promised, remember? If you are not prepared, to be honest with me, then I really don't know how much more of this I can take." 

"If it's so hard for you, then why are you still here?" Tony could not bring himself to look at her. "You've had sixteen years to used to this," He waved a hand in front of him, motioning to the destruction around them. "If you want to leave, then do it. I'm not stopping you."

There was not a single ounce of truth in the words that he was numbly speaking. He did not want Pepper to leave, of course, he didn't - Tony did not know what he would do if she did. Everything he had ever done, the business they had built together was for her, and it was for their daughter. As much as it killed him internally to be cruel to them both, he had to keep reminding himself that it was for their own good. He was dying. And somehow he believed that if he pushed them away, and made them leave him on their own accord, then the pain of leaving them behind would be reduced. 

"Please don't put me in this position, Tony." Pepper's voice was shaking and she trembled in the chilled, evening breeze.

"Dad?" Charlotte repeated, feeling unnerved by his lack of response. She did not like what her mom was saying, but she did not like the fact that her dad was remaining quiet, a lot less.

Tony then turned to look at Pepper, "Just take Charlie, and leave. I don't care." and with that, he took flight into the night sky, not looking back once.

Pepper was left speechless and unable to react, tears were now freely flowing. Charlotte, however, ran after him instantly and leaned over the balcony railing, watching the outline of his suit fade from existence.

"Dad, come back!" she screamed after him, her voice cracked as a cry ripped from her throat, "Don't leave me!"

As the lights of the destroyed mansion faded from his view, Tony began to weep inside his suit. All he wanted to do was turn back and wrap his wife and daughter in his arm. He would hold onto them tightly, without his suit, and promise them that he would never leave them.

But that was not true, and that reality crushed him. He was dying, that much was inevitable. Soon, he did not know how long, but soon he would be dead, and he wanted Charlotte and Pepper to feel as little pain as possible. Even if it meant them resenting him.

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author's note

Phew, this was a tough chapter to write - I hate making Tony be mean to Pepper and Charlotte, I just love them all too much!

I just want to thank everyone for the recent flurry of views, votes, and comments-it means so much to me that you are all enjoying this story!