Stark manor, 1998

TONY HAS NO idea how long he's kept himself in the lab, just working away on his inventions. Earlier that day, he and Howard got into a fight about telling the public about Claire; Tony downright refused to tell the public about her since it's only been a week since he took her in and he didn't want Claire's name to be suddenly thrown into the headlines or for her face to be on tv just yet while Howard thought that the sooner the public knew about Claire, the better it would be. While the father and son were fighting about this, Claire had brought her hands up to her ears to cover them from the loud fighting and seeing as how it'd be a while for them to stop fighting, Maria had brought her granddaughter up to her bedroom where the two colored. After the fight between himself and Howard, Tony locked himself in the lab in hopes of forgetting about the argument while he worked away on his inventions. The only time he ever left the lab was when Claire asked him if he could tuck her to bed and after he had done that, he found himself back in the lab. And as he worked, he couldn't help but let Claire, his sweet little girl, consume his thoughts. 

It had only been a week since Tony had taken his daughter in since Victoria had her custody rights taken away and arrested. Ever since Claire was officially living with her father and her grandparents, both Tony and Claire had been getting along well. For the first two days, Claire had been a little hesitant and shy around Tony or her grandparents and Tony had been extremely nervous around her, worried about messing up but after the first two days, it was like Claire and Tony clicked because out of nowhere, the father and daughter started bonding. And now, Claire adored her father and Tony had grown protective over his little girl, never wanting anyone or anything to hurt her. 

Tony was so distracted by what he was working on that he didn't hear the glass doors being opened or noticed his three-year-old daughter slowly walking over to him, her little arms wrapped around herself as if she was trying to keep herself from shaking. "Daddy?" Claire's small voice reached his ears as she reached his desk, tugging his arm lightly.

Feeling the tug, Tony looked up from his work and let his eyes gaze over, landing on his daughter that stood there with a fearful expression on her face, no doubt worried that he'd get mad at her for getting out of bed this late. "Hey, munchkin," Tony told her gently, frowning slightly when he saw the worry written on her face. "What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Claire looked down at the ground, nodding a little as she refused to meet her father's eyes, afraid that he was going to get mad at her for bothering him while he was working. "Claire, what's wrong, munchkin? Did something happened?" Tony asked again, trying to figure out what got her so spooked that she got out of bed this late. 

"Daddy, you're not gonna let mama come and take me away, right?"

Tony felt himself freeze from the question, his brown eyes going wide a little bit as he stared down at her. He had no idea where this was coming from but the very thought of letting Victoria take Claire away from him was enough to both scare and anger him. The idea of Claire going back to someone as terrible as Victoria scared him since he knew that Victoria wouldn't give a damn about his little girl and the idea of Victoria coming back to take Claire away from him was just enough to make him furious because over his dead body was he going to let someone like her take his daughter from him. No, whenever it was Victoria or someone even worse than her, they'd have to pry Claire from his dead body because when it comes to her, he wouldn't back down without a fight. 

"Of course not, munchkin," Tony said, lifting the three-year-up up and setting her down on his lap. "Nobody's gonna take you away from me, okay?"

"Okay." Claire mumbled softly without looking directly at her father, a small part of her unsure if he was telling the truth or not.

Tony frowned lightly. "What made you ask anyways?"

Claire kept her eyes on the ground, finding it more easier to tell him without having to look at his face. "I... I had a nightmare about it. You... you said that you didn't want me anymore, that you only took me in cause of pity so, you let mama take me away from you."

"Hey," Tony said, his voice soft but firm at the same time as he gently lifted her face to get her to look at him. "None of that is true, okay? I took you in because you're my daughter and I will never let anyone take you away from me."

"Not even mama?" Claire asked, staring at him with those big brown eyes of hers, the very same color that she got from him. 

"Not even your mother," Tony confirmed. "Nobody is going to separate us, okay?"

Claire nodded and threw her arms around her father's waist for a hug, smiling softly when she felt his arms hold her close to him. Then, as much as she tried to hold it in, Claire couldn't help but yawn, which made Tony chuckle. Tony then stood up from his seat with Claire in his arms and as he held her, he left the lab and carried her back up to her bedroom. Once he reached her bedroom, he walked inside and laid her back down in her bed. Right when he went to cover her with the blanket, Claire stopped him, "Daddy, can you stay with me please? At least until I fall asleep?" She asked. 

Tony smiled lightly at her and nodded. Claire couldn't help but grinned widely as she quickly made some space in her bed for him, watching as he got in the bed, laying down next to her. Once he was in, Claire giggled and laid down next to her father, her small hands holding onto him as she refused to let go while he covered them up with the blanket.

Claire yawned, her eyes starting to close as she was falling asleep. "I love you, daddy."

Once again, Tony felt his eyes widened as he froze at hearing her said those words for the first time. By the time he looked down at her, she was already fast asleep while holding on to him and as much as he felt this pride inside of him when he heard those words, he couldn't help but feel terrified of saying those words back.

Maybe it was because he was still afraid of screwing up as a father. 

Maybe it was because not even once did he ever hear his own father said those words to him. 

Instead of saying those words back, he leaned down and pressed a fatherly-kiss on her forehead while he smiled lightly at the peaceful smile on her face while she slept before he rested his own head on one of the pillows, closing his eyes and falling asleep as well. 

Present day

Claire couldn't wait for her father to get back home from his trip for his weapons demonstration. She wanted to hear all about it from her father since he wouldn't allow her to go with him despite how much she begged him too. Claire was inside the living room on her knees at the coffee table where she was making a 'welcome home' card for her father. Just as she signed her name to the color and placed down the purple crayon that she had finished writing her name in, the sound of the door being opened was heard as she curiously looked up. Thinking her father had gotten home, she grabbed her card and pushed herself onto her feet before making her way down the hall towards the front door where she found Pepper talking to Rhodey, both of them talking in hushed voices so, Claire wouldn't hear them. Instantly, Claire hid behind a wall as she peeked out, watching the two continue their hushed conversations and grew confused when she saw the worry and concern on Pepper's face, her eyes slowly gathering tears that Pepper held back.

Right before Rhodey and Pepper could turn around and spot her, Claire quickly took off running back to the living room and got down on her knees again in front of the coffee table, putting the card on the table and acting like she was still making it just as Pepper entered the room with Rhodey. 

Looking back up as she placed the crayon back down and acting like she hadn't been spying on them earlier, Claire smiled at her godfather. "Hi, Uncle Rhodey." she smiled. 

Rhodey gave her a small smile in return, having no idea how he was supposed to tell her about what happened. "Claire? Um, honey, Rhodey has something to tell you about your father." Pepper told her, a small frown on her face since she had no idea how the little girl was going to react to the news. 

Claire blinked as she looked over at the man at those words. "Is daddy coming home soon?" She questioned, thinking it was that. 

"Uh, no, not exactly, kiddo," Rhodey said before he motioned for her to sit down on the couch with him as he sat down on it, Claire followed his lead and sat down on the couch next to him, turning her head to look at him. "Um, well, you know where your father was doing his demonstration, right?"

Claire nodded. " Afghanistan."

Rhodey nodded. "Right. Well, while he was there, something went wrong and they got attacked, and now, um..." 

Claire frowned at how he trailed off, her brain already thinking of the worst. "Uncle Rhodey? Daddy isn't dead... right?"

Rhodey hesitant for a second as he bit his lip, not wanting to tell her but he knew that he had to let her know what happened. "I... I'm not sure yet, kiddo," he answered honestly. "He's missing right now but I'm not gonna stop looking for him till I find him."

That's when Claire felt her whole world shatter at those words. The thought of her father being out there somewhere and no one knew where he was, it was enough to terrify her. All she wanted right there and now was for Tony Stark to come walking into the house all fine and she'd go running into his arms, telling him how she missed him but it wasn't happening and she had no idea if her father was even alive. 

"Daddy... daddy's missing?" Claire asked softly, tears filling her eyes as she looked between Pepper and Rhodey. 

"For now, he is, but I'm gonna find him, okay?" Rhodey told her gently. "I'm gonna find him and bring him home to you. I promise."

Claire nodded slowly, fighting the best she could to keep her tears from coming out and Pepper took notice of this. Pepper then walked over and kneeled down in front of her with a small frown on her face. "Claire, are you okay, honey?"

Claire shook her head as she squeezed her eyes shut. 

"I want daddy to come home."

Claire was a mess after finding out that her father was missing somewhere in Afghanistan and having no clue if he was still alive or not was killing her. She had never wanted for her father to come home so much, to run into his arms for a hug as she begged him to never leave her again. The thought of her father terrified her and all she wanted was to be in her father's arms again, feeling the safety and the warmth his arms gave her that made her feel safe and loved. From the moment that Rhodey and Pepper told her what happened to Tony, Claire has been crying nonstop in her bedroom with her face buried in her pillows, tore up on the inside that she had no idea whenever her father was alive or not. 

Claire knows that the chances of her father being alive is fifty-fifty but she was hoping against hope that Tony was still alive and fighting to make it back home to her. She doesn't know what she'd do if her father was dead and just the thought of Tony being dead... she hated the sound of never seeing her father again or never feeling the safety that her father gave whenever she hugged him. She knows her father cares about her despite the fact that Tony's never told her that he loves her but she's never ask him if he does and just always assumed that he's never said it because of how his own relationship with his father was. Claire has seen firsthand how Tony's relationship was with her grandfather and when the accident that killed her grandparents happened, she has seen how their deaths affected her father because even if Tony didn't get along with his father, he still cared about him, of course. Then, there was her grandmother, Maria, who was one of the very few people that showed her father kindness and love, and Claire knows that her grandmother's death had affected her father the most, considering that Tony was always a bit more closer with his mother than with Howard. In those moments where Tony was grieving for his parents all while doing his very best to raise his daughter, Claire was trying to cheer her father up but now, all she wanted was for him to come home and to tell her that he'd never leave like this again. 

Claire lifted her head up from the pillow and wiped the tears away, rubbing her eyes that were red from all the crying she's been doing up in her bedroom. Taking a deep breath to calm down, Claire pushed herself off of the bed and left her bedroom, silently making her way down to her father's lab since she didn't want Pepper hearing her. Once she made it down the stairs and to the lab, she opened the glass door and stepped inside, seeing all of her father's inventions, robots, and his cars. She smiled slightly as she walked over to the large desk that was set up against the wall, the lab had always been her favorite part of the house. 

Reaching the desk, Claire stared down at all of the blueprints and tools that littered her father's desk. She looked over to one of the blueprints and noticed that it was a blueprint of the missile that her father had been showing off before he got kidnapped. She frowned lightly and quickly wiped her eyes again, not wanting to start crying again. 

"JARVIS, did you find daddy yet?" Claire asked, a small hint of hope laced in her tone. 

JARVIS remained silent for a while before he answered. "Still no luck, Miss Stark."

Claire sighed a little at those words, her brown eyes trailing down to the pile of blueprints on the desk and looked over, spotting a few empty blueprints too. Claire couldn't help but smile slightly, her eyes lighting up as if a lightbulb had appear over her head with an idea in her head. Pulling herself onto her father's chair and grabbing a pencil as well as a empty blueprint that she laid out on the desk, "JARVIS, I want you to keep looking for him. Don't stop looking no matter what." She tells the AI. 

"Miss Stark, excuse me for asking, but what is it that you are planning to do?"

"Doing what me and daddy do best," Claire said as if it was obvious to the AI. "I'm gonna build something to help find daddy and bring him home."

Immediately, Claire got to work with the empty blueprint, sketching a few inventions that came to her on the top of her head that she could make to help save her father. With a determination to save her father coursing through her veins, Claire worked all day and all night nonstop. 

She was going to save her father no matter what.