Present day; Las Vegas, 36 hours earlier

"TONY STARK. VISIONARY. Genius. American patriot. Even from a young age, the son of legendary weapons developer, Howard Stark, quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At age four, he built his first circuit board. At age six, his first engine. And at seventeen, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT."

The montage that continued to drone on about her father was a little boring to the seven-year-old girl that became known as Claire Stark to the world. When Tony had first took custody of her, he absolutely refused for her name and face to be shown to the public, doing the best he could to keep her hidden from the paparazzi at first. It wasn't easy keeping her out of the eyes of the paparazzi and it wasn't until one time, a reporter had grabbed the little girl when she was with her father and their bodyguard, Happy Hogan walking towards the entrance of Stark Industries since it would be Claire's first time seeing the inside of the place just so the reporter could get a photo of her face and hopefully some answers to his questions. Of course, Tony didn't like that a single bit and had ended up punching the reporter while Happy pulled her away from the scene. That night was when a press conference was held where Tony had it revealed that Claire was his daughter and since then, Claire's life was fully out there in the public with her name on newspapers headlines or on tv. 

Claire looked around the room that was fill of wealthy contributors and board members, each and every one of them dressed in either suits or dresses while they sat at large tables, even Claire had a nice dress on for the event and still listening to the voice go on about her father, Claire glances over at Rhodey that sat across from her at the table, her father's best friend that Tony had made her godfather, and pretends to let out a bored yawn, making Rhodey chuckle lightly before he stands up and starts making his way to get on the stage. 

"...by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe," the voice finishes up as the final picture of Tony Stark covers the screen.

As Rhodey begins his speech, Claire couldn't help but giggle lightly, bringing her hands up to her mouth to keep her giggles from escaping her lips. 

Then, Rhodey ends his speech with, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark."

The spotlight finds the table that Claire's sitting at as she looks over at the empty seat next to her while the audience erupts in applause. Claire looks over at her godfather and smiles sheepishly, the two of them knowing exactly where Tony Stark was. Obadiah Stane, or as Claire knows him as Obie since she's heard her father call him that multiple times. Rhodey forces a smile and Claire watches as Obie stands up from the table he was sitting at and moves over to the stage. Claire couldn't help but gaze out of Obie's speech, barely paying any attention to it but the sound of the audience clapping draws her back in and she blinks as she notices everyone starting to leave. 

Claire immediately stands up from her seat and rushes over to her godfather with a wide smile on her face. "Uncle Rhodey!" She calls out for, gaining his attention as he looks over and instantly smiles at the sight of her. 

"Hey, kiddo," Rhodey greets with a smile, carefully picking up his goddaughter once she reaches him. "Let's go get your dad, shall we?"

Claire just giggled with a smile on her face as she nodded, holding onto to her uncle as they walked through the casino, heading straight for where her father was at a table with a ton of flirtatious women standing around him. Claire spots Happy and the moment he spots the two walking over, he doesn't hesitant to push the others away so they could make a straight B-line to Tony.

"You are unbelievable." Rhodey tells his best friend with a frown.

Tony jerks in surprise a little but relaxes when he sees it's only his best friend and his daughter. He looks over at Claire and smiles at her. "Hey, munchkin." Tony says, calling her his little nickname for her. 

"Hi, daddy." Claire greets with a smile as she wraps her arms around her father's neck once Rhodey passed her to him.

Tony smiles at her as he holds her close before looking over at his best friend. "Oh, no, did they rope you into this?" He questions.

"Nobody roped me into anything." Rhodey declines.

"I'm so sorry." Tony said with a smirk pointed towards him.

"But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored." Rhodey adds, staring at him with a sharp pointed look on his face.

"Of course I'd be deeply honored," Tony says, shifting Claire in his arms so she's more comfortable. "And it's you, that's great. So, when do we do it?"

"It's right here," Rhodey says, holding up the award for him. "Here you go."

"There it is, that went easy." Tony says, letting Claire take the award into her hands. 

Claire watched with a amused smile as her father and godfather bantered with each other, completely used to how the two grown men were since she's seen them act like this her whole life. It's not long till she and her father are leaving the casino and heading towards the limo where Tony is buckling Claire in when a voice calls out to him, "Mr. Stark! Excuse me, Mr. Stark!"

Claire furrows her eyebrows in confusion as she looks up at her father. "Daddy, who's that?"

"Just another reporter, munchkin," Tony tells her as he presses a fatherly kiss on the top of her head. "I'll deal with her, stay here, okay?"

Claire nodded and watched as her father close the door a little before turning his attention to the female reporter while she waits inside. She can't hear what they're talking about but from the look on their faces and the way her father is looking at the female reporter, Claire easily puts two-and-two together on what's going on. The next thing she knew was that once they had arrived back home and Claire was fast asleep in her bed, her father was a little busy with the female reporter. By the time that the next morning comes, Claire instantly jumps out of bed, still wearing her pajamas as she runs down the stairs and jogs down the steps of the house to her father's workshop where she finds Tony working away as always and doesn't hesitant to rush over to help him before he has to leave for his demonstration.

Tony has grease up to his elbows as he works diligently on the inside of his roadster while Claire is carefully and very neatly painting the long flames on its side, a drops of paint over her pajamas and hands. Hearing footsteps approach, Claire looks up for a moment and her grin widens when she sees Pepper Potts, her father's personal assistant, pushes through the glass doors of the workshop. Claire quickly puts the paintbrush down and rushes over to the woman, instantly wrapping her arms around her legs for a quick hug as Pepper smiles down at the little girl and doesn't hesitant to return the hug. When the two pull away, Claire returns to her spot next to her father, grabbing the paintbrush and goes back to focusing on her work, sticking her tongue out to the side in complete focus. 

"Mr. Stark, you were supposed to be halfway around the world right now." Pepper immediately reminds, catching Claire's attention as she continues painting.

Tony continues to look over different pieces and designs, still talking to Pepper. "Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?"

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago." Pepper says with a frown, adjusting the numerous files in her arms.

"That's funny," Tony says. "I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."

Claire looks over at her father, hopeful. "Can I go too?"

Immediately, both Pepper and Tony turn to her. "You're not going."

Claire pouts. "Aw, man!"

Pepper focuses back on Tony. "Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out of the door."

"Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

Claire watches her father and Pepper end up bickering and talking as if they were an married old couple and she couldn't help but pout at her father's and Pepper's oblivious to how they felt about the other. She stares at them with a smirk, watching as they shoot questions back and forth.

"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane," Pepper thrusts a pen in his direction.

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As of matter of fact, I do."

"I don't like it when you have plans." Tony says with a entirely serious expression on his face.

Claire shakes her head at her father.

Pepper looks down at her folders, "I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."

Then Claire notices that her father is doing that exact face when he feels guilty but tries hard not to show it. "It's your birthday?"

"Yes."

Tony looks over her shoulder and looks at his daughter. Claire blinks and shrugs, mouthing the words "What? I made her a card!"

He directs his attention back to Pepper. "I knew that. Already?"

"Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year."

Claire smiles widens when she sees the way that her father and Pepper are smiling at each other, wishing that the two of them could just see that they were just perfect for each other. Of course, not only that but Claire does has a running bet with Rhodey on when they'll finally get together. Sensing that they were done, Claire puts the paintbrush down and starts running over to her father. At the sound of her footsteps, the two turn towards her and Tony bends down, catching the little girl in his arms as he scoops her up and presses a kiss against her forehead. 

"Alright, you behave with Miss Potts here while I'm gone, okay, munchkin?" Tony tells her.

Claire nods. "I will, daddy."

Then, Claire can't help but wrap her arms around her father's neck since this is the first time that she's going to be separated from her father since her first meeting him all those years ago. "I'm gonna miss you, daddy."

Tony smiles at her and hugs her close. "I'll miss you too, munchkin."