Female reader!

Summary: Your father, Tony, has kept you locked away to protect you after your mother was murdered during a robbery. But after he left Peter alone at his apartment, things happen...

Warnings: A bit of angst at the beginning

Word count: 2,043

When you had been born to a woman whom Tony had loved dearly when he was young, he had been ecstatic about it. He was looking forward to being a dad, but he wanted to offer you a loving life, with him and your mom stuck by your side.

But life wasn't built to be fair and happy for you. You were barely four years old, when your mom had died in a violent robbery. And when your father became the Iron Man shortly after that, he swore to himself that he wouldn't let anything to happen to you - he couldn't bear losing you too. So he locked you away into the Stark tower, and no one else than Pepper and later the Avengers knew who you were - or where you were. Tony never spoke about you in the public and ignored all the questions about the little girl he had with your mom years ago - and as the years went by, the press gradually stopped asking about you from your father.

—

"Hey, kid. I'm going to a party tonight. There's food in the fridge and don't bully FRIDAY. FRIDAY, please bully Peter." Tony told Peter as he closed his suitcase. Peter was still nervous to stay at the Iron Man's residence and his nervousness was visible, as he didn't manage to stay in place and couldn't act natural. And above all, he knew Tony was considering on taking Peter to join the Avengers - and Peter couldn't mess that up.

"Oh, haha, FRIDAY can bully me, okay. Uh, can I watch the TV? There's a movie coming tonight and I really really want to watch it." the boy asked and Tony raised his eyebrows at him. Then he sighed and nodded.

"FRIDAY, if Peter watches the TV, please make sure he doesn't get to watch those certain channels."

"Got it, Mr. Stark. I'm going to disable your own channels for tonight." FRIDAY's voice echoed throughout the residence. Peter didn't dare to ask about the channels FRIDAY had just disabled, and Tony got into the elevator. But just before the elevator doors closed, he laid a warning look on Peter.

"I want my tower and everything inside it intact when I come home. Got it, kid?"

Peter straightened his back and nodded at Tony. "S-sure, Mr. Stark, I'm not going to blow this up or anything."

—

It was quiet and dark, the movie had just ended and Peter had the empty food box laying on the table in front of him. It was too late to go on a stroll, but too early to go to sleep, but he didn't know what to do. He thought that home alone evening would be over in no time - but as he was too nervous to do much anything because he didn't want to frustrate Tony, he wasn't left with much to do.

"Mr. Parker, I'd recommend you to clean that up before it jams on the table. Mr. Stark won't be happy if he finds out that you left mayonnaise stuck on his table", FRIDAY's voice advised and Peter complied immediately - fortunately FRIDAY was there to advise Peter. Sometimes Peter wondered if FRIDAY had its own consciousness, because even though it talked to Peter about things, Tony at least acted like he didn't know anything about those things.

Just as Peter had cleaned the mayonnaise and was taking the paper to trash, he heard... singing. A girl singing in a room which was close to his room... and he followed the voice. He thought he was alone, but burglars don't sing, at least those burglars he had caught didn't. But he had to be ready, because New York was full of all kinds of people - and the singing girl could be a trap. So he readied his wrists just in case, and opened the door beside his room.

What he saw, was a girl sitting beside a large mirror with headphones on. You had immediately stopped singing when you saw Peter and just stared the boy in horror. You knew who Peter was, you knew he was staying there - but your father had forbidden you to show yourself to him. After all, Peter wasn't an Avenger yet and he had to be tested so he could become one.

"Wow... you've got an amazing singing voice", Peter breathed out and you blushed.

"Thank you."

He just kept smiling at you, but suddenly his eyes widened upon realizing who you were. "Wait... you're Y/N Stark!"

You blushed even harder, knowing everyone thought you were either dead or gone missing, because your father wouldn't ever talk about you. And Peter realizing that your father had kept you in the tower all this time, felt... embarrassing. You felt like Rapunzel.

You saw a FRIDAY bot slowly floating over your room and you sighed, looking at the bot with pleading eyes. "Please don't tell my father. He'd kick Peter out and it wasn't Peter's fault, it was mine."

FRIDAY was quiet for a bit, but then it turned around and its voice echoed through your room. "I'm looking this through my wires this time."

It was quiet again and Peter had realized that his staring made you uncomfortable, so he turned his gaze to the floor. Neither of you spoke, but you knew what was there running inside Peter's head.

So you felt the need to explain. "After my mother died in that robbery, my father swore that he wouldn't let anything happen to me - and in his opinion, the best way was to lock me away, to prevent me to go to places so there wouldn't be any chances I'd be in danger, let people think I wasn't around anymore. But I understand him, in my own way. He only wishes me the best."

Peter seemed to calm down at your words - he apparently had thought Tony kept you as a prisoner there. Then he squinted his eyes at you and asked: "Wait, so if this is also Avengers Tower..."

"They know about me." you interrupted him and offered him a tiny smile. "Tony made them promise that they wouldn't tell about me to anyone as the first thing when they entered this house."

"Oh."

FRIDAY's bot came back, this time projecting a surveillance camera video of your father coming back into the building, silently indicating Peter has to leave your room.

"Can I come to see you again?" Peter whispered and you nodded while grinning.

"I haven't had the contact of my age for a long time so... sure."

—

Almost two months had gone by, and you couldn't believe your luck. The summer was almost over and Tony hadn't found out of your and Peter's little friendship, which had slowly developed into a relationship. Every time you were home alone, you had fun with Peter with movies, cuddling and playing video games.

Then the day when Peter was supposed to leave, came. It had been tiptoeing to your door for weeks prior, a feeling at the back of your neck and you knew to expect it but it still was too soon, it still hurt. So when Peter came over by your room to say goodbye while Tony was in the basement, you couldn't help but grab him by his collar and kiss him - even though you knew there was a high chance that Tony was seeing that, you just kept your lips on his.

But after your father's figure appeared at your door, you quickly pulled away and looked over to your father. He was clenching his teeth and stared at Peter with the power of thousand daggers.

"Mr. Stark, I-"

"Out."

And Peter left, knowing Tony would throw him out if he would protest.

—

It had been a few days since Peter left. You didn't talk to your father and Tony was continuously checking the news for the possibility that Peter had told the press about you - and there had been no news on that, but Tony still checked that multiple times a day. He was scared that his enemies would know about you - they'd know he had a weak spot where to strike. You meant the world to him, and he couldn't stand the chance that he would be losing you.

Tony drummed his foot on the floor, browsing the channels on the TV, when Steve sat beside him. He sighed and let his hands rest in between his knees. He knew there was a great chance Tony wouldn't listen to him, but he had to try.

"Tony, you're being too hard on Peter and Y/N."

Tony didn't answer, but his aggressive channel browsing stopped like someone froze his hand. His lips twitched slightly, and Steve knew Tony was listening to him.

"Peter is a good kid. And Y/N seems to care for him, and if you really want the best for your daughter-"

"The best way to keep Y/N safe is by keeping her here until she's ready to go face the outside world." Tony grumbled and Steve sighed again.

"And when would that be? When she's eighteen? Or twenty-five? Or wait, I know. Forty, right?"

Tony huffed at Steve's try to make the situation look humorous, but to Steve, it was close enough.

"You can't keep Y/N locked away forever, Tony. And now she has fallen in love - and Peter would be there to protect her even if you couldn't. Tony, as much as you hate it, but your little girl is all grown up. She doesn't need this much protection anymore - and you know it."

Without another word, Steve left from Tony's side, leaving Tony to his thoughts. He knew Cap was right about you and Peter - and yet Tony wanted to believe that if you went to explore the world outside the tower, you would be in danger and his tower would be the only place where you were safe at all times. But when he thought about it, you had had at least one dangerous situation in there, when Loki and the aliens invaded the New York City. Loki had even stepped into the tower, waltzed in the living room and if you wouldn't have been with Pepper back then - Tony even didn't want to imagine what dangers would have been lying there for you. He thought about Cap's words over and over again, and finally he reluctantly agreed with him.

Peter was a good kid.

—

The school hallway was full of students hugging each other after a long time not seeing, lockers were full of back to school-stickers and Peter just slumped there with Ned, who patted Peter on the back with a comforting manner after Peter had muttered what had happened with you.

"Well, that sucks", he shook his head as taking his backpack off. "But maybe Mr. Stark comes to his senses?"

"I don't think so", Peter muttered as he took his own backpack off and opened his locker. "He looked like he'll kill me if I s-"

"Wow, who's that?" Ned interrupted him and Peter groaned, not looking at the direction Ned was looking.

"Don't know and don't care."

But before Peter knew it, he felt familiar hands on his shoulders. A kiss was placed on his cheek and your voice whispered: "Did you miss me?"

Peter's expression was one of those you'd have to take pictures of. It was like he just saw a miracle in front of his eyes - and maybe to him, you were just that.

Peter turned to face you and kept your hands in his own, grasping them like a lifeline and stared at you for a long while.

"How?" he finally got a word out and you grinned.

"A miracle happened, dad actually listened to someone else than his own stubborn mind. He even decided to roll me into the public school, so..."

Your talking was interrupted when Ned dropped the mug he was holding and had stopped staring at you, as he finally realized who you were. You giggled and bent down to pick up the mug and handing it back to him.

"You must be Ned."