𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐔, 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀

TONY

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'It's mine!'

Margo grabbed the last slice of pizza before Tony could beat her to it, fitting between her teeth with a loud chomp. The triangular wedge hung amidst her mouth as she scribbled down something in whatever she was writing. Tony audibly grumbled, turning his back to her.

It had been two days since they had last seen Elle and returned to the Stark mansion. The first two floors were under renovation so Tony had to get Margo comfortable around his workshop which was the only place left unaffected. There was a meagre sofa on which he allowed to crash for her naps and they had been surviving on takeout until the place was back to normal. Margo had been catching up with schoolwork and obviously, it piqued Tony.

Not that he was complaining. Margo loved to learn, even if it wasn't off the appropriate subject. While the preschool children were learning about vowels and phonetics, Margo knew about the effects and forces that were involved when pushing chalk against a plank.  Her mind was wanting to know everything and how much ever Tony loved the workings of her mind, he knew she was still a child.

'Whatcha up to, Magpie?'

'Working,' she said, chewing on the greasy slice of pizza. She continued to prod a finger into the new bandage without her knowledge and Tony swat her hand away. The wound had clotted but she kept poking a finger into it.

'DUM-E just finished dressing that,' he reminded her, 'you'll infect it.'

'He did a better job than you,' she piqued, throwing the automated claw a happy look. DUM-E whirred in response to which Margo giggled. 'He's my fave.'

'Oh, is he?' He hummed. 

'Remember the old cyphers you used for his structural comps?' Margo asked, making Tony raise a questioning brow at her. Was his own flesh and blood finding an error in his own codes?

'Affirmative,' he drawled.

'Well,' she sang, 'I tweaked them a bit. Look, his movements are so much more fluid. I think—'

'Uh-uh, Mags,' his jaw dropped. 'Don't screw with my bots.'

'Yours?' She scoffed. 'He likes me more than you. Isn't that right, Dum-Dum?'

The robot hand swivelled on its axis to look at Margo and bent its arm forward and back as if nodding in acceptance. A flash of pride went up to Tony's face, a smile decorating his face. My daughter could code better than me, he thought proudly.

'Daddy,' she looked up at him, putting the pencil down with an inquisitive smile. Tony turned to throw a glimpse over his shoulder with a small nod.

'How did you and ma meet?'

Oh, boy, not without Elle around. 'Why?'

'Homework,' she flipped a page to show him as evidence. She slammed the book close, holding her cheeks in her palms. He knew this had nothing to do with homework and this was another one of his stress upshots that she seemed to love to put Tony through. 

Tony glared. 'Why must you bullshit me every time, child?'

'I'm telling mom you used a bad word or you tell me what happened.'

'Extortion,' he raised his hands in surrender. 'I feel vulnerable.'

'Just tell me.'

'What do you mean? A lot happened. Which part―'

'You're stalling.'

'Right.'

'Simple question,' she enunciated every syllable as if speaking to a child. 'You. Mom. How did you two meet?'

'Funny story,' he hummed in all nervousness. They had a one-night stand, he kicked her out and didn't bother to remember her name the next day. Sent her flowers a week after Rhodey's continuous pestering and then went on their first date. He irritated her and he ended up with wine up his nostrils and an angry Elle walking out on him. Of course, he couldn't say that to a four-year-old unless he wanted to scar the kid for life. He thought of an alternative—lie his way out of it.

'Super romantic,' he mused, pondering hard about a fake meeting. 

'We met... on a cruise.'

'Wow,' she whispered, impressed. She propped hand under her chin. 'Was it like one of those faulty ones or happy ones?'

'What?'

'Did you feel butterflies?' She deadpanned. 'Like in your stomach. Or feel like flying or so very―'

'Drunk.'

'What?'

'In love,' he added with a nervous laugh. 

Her eyes turned cautious. 'And then?'

'The ship was sinking,' he pursed his lips, trailing off, 'and I saved her life. I knew she was it for me since then. End of story.'

Tony let out a large breath, turning around with a relieved smile. 

'Huh,' Margo said, not knowing whether to seem fascinated or disappointed.

He dragged his stool away with a shuffle of his feet, heading back to his business on the tablets. JARVIS was already half-way there in tracking the energy surges around the world from the wand he had acquired earlier, in less than an hour, he would have the exact location to Masque's next strike. DUM-E and U on the side were working on fixing back the crushed metal-panels from the last fight he had been involved in, soon after, he could get going.

 Until he heard Margo ask suspiciously. 'Wait, isn't that Titanic?'

His snitch of an AI spoke up vigilantly. Tony swallowed hard, glaring at the screen. He couldn't believe he didn't build an off switch for that stupid intelligence. 

'I believe so, sir. Actually, Miss Stark, he met your mother at a party. And I believe they ended up in bed—'

'―sharing our love for each other,' Tony added quickly. 'JARVIS, no one asked you. Shut up.'

'It is Titanic,' Margo pushed. 'He dies saving her and she lives.'

'Okay, you're like four,' he turned to her with a frown, 'are you even old enough to watch that movie?'

'My stats say negative, sir.'

'JARVIS, I will grill your synthesizer,' Tony threatened. 'This is a father-daughter interrogation so, butt out.'

'It's the greatest movie of all time,' Margo retorted back, ignoring the intelligence's snide remarks. 'I watched the censored one. You allowed me.'

'Was I conscious when requested?'

'When are you ever conscious?'

He rolled his eyes. 'Fair enough.'

Tony, definitely, was not conscious. Or maybe he was, but he was busy and forgot. And if Elle found out, she would punch the living daylights out of him for letting a toddler watch a movie where the protagonist drew nude women for fun. So if he wanted to keep his balls intact, he had to find a way out of this. Fast.

'Look, the dude dies in that, right?' Tony flew to correct his lies. 'In this, we live. And we had you.'

'Daddy,' she said sternly, her gaze unforgiving. 'How did you and Mommy really meet?'

Tony sighed, giving up. He leaned his cheek into his hand in desolation and Margo continued to stare, unnerved. She was not pleased with the turn that their conversation had taken.

'I don't know, Mags.'

'You don't remember?' 

'I do,' he remarked with a jump, shuffling closer to rub his forehead in worry. He decided to let the cat out of the bag instead. 'It's not the best of encounters. Elle hesitated at first.'

'And then,' Margo drawled, 'you made her like you.'

'Mom had an insane ex-boyfriend,' he mentioned lightly making her widen her eyes. 'Made matters harder.'

'She had a boyfriend,' Margo mused. 'Was he hot?'

'Mags.'

'For informational purposes, of course.'

Why did she have to turn out to be as smart as him? By the time she would turn thirteen, she would probably manipulate his decisions on wearing booty shorts and hanging out with biker dudes. She was four-years-old and she was already giving him a hard time.

'Beyond the point,' he admonished. 'He was bad and tried to kill me. Can I please go on, madame secretary?'

'Okay,' she smiled, 'what happened next?'

'She couldn't resist my charms,' he smirked. Or in this case, bushels and bushels of flowers. 'See, Mags, there's a thin line between love and hate. With a bit of tugging, your mom fell to the side of the line where I wanted her to be. We had a few hitches but eventually, I got her to say I do.'

 'By giving her a heart circle?' She grinned. 

'That, yes,' he noted with a nod. The heart circle she was referring to was the scar left behind from the arc reactor modding. She was curious about it since day one of her realization. 'That was a representative condition. But mostly because we decided to have you.'

'Me?'

'Well, we,' he trailed off while looking at her, 'cleared out that we were having you when things were not going the way it should be. You were the happiest thing that happened to us. Your mom, more than me.'

She blinked.

'She realized the world could fall apart however it wanted,' he said, 'and there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep you safe. Mags, you were her new Iron Man—born out of the hardest circumstances no one could be put through. That's what makes us so special,' he reached across the table to poke her forehead. 

'You.'

There was a supple grin on Margo's face which were surrounded by her bunched cheeks, a blooming satisfaction for her given answer. Her big blue eyes, he could almost see, filled with content.

'Alright,' Tony cut into her reverie, grabbing her by the shoulders and lifting her. 'Time for bed, little miss sunshine. Daddy's got work.'

'Hey,' she wriggled on his arms in a release as he dropped over the sofa cushions nearby, 'I'm not sleepy.'

'It's one.'

'The night is still young,' she remarked.

'And I don't care,' he shook his head, pulling the eiderdown over her reluctant self. He used his hand to push her face back into the pillows. 'You better shut those eyes and start dreaming.'

'Or what?' She challenged him with a smirk.

'Or its crickets and beetles for breakfast tomorrow,' he threatened with playful glare, as he let the blanket rest over her arms. She pressed her tiny face into the rest, shooting a one-eyed gaze up at him. He cocked his brow in question. Her replying whisper was muffled but he heard it as clear as day. 

'I'm your new Iron Man too, right?'

Tony found it hard to swallow his grin, letting it rest on his face for a while before he answered. Leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek, he murmured and making her smile.

'Who said anything different?'

∞

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐘, 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀

ELEANOR

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'Environmental scan complete,' HELEN said in my ears as I hovered over the last floor of the short, studio apartment. 'There's nobody here, ma'am.'

This was this last known location of Madame Masque according to Stephen. This measly, badly interior-designed condo which looked like it had a rat infestation. I blew the window to shards with a short repulsor blast, entering in while retracting the helmet over my head. The bed on the farthest end had tousled blankets, the closet was thrown wide open with emptied hangers and staging a hasty departure. 

'She was here, right?'

'There is abnormal energy residue,' she shared. 'Energies that are similar to the ones at the sanctum.'

'And is this her place?'

'There are no real estate filings under her but that's easy to fake.'

The kitchen counter was cleared except for a single, rectangular device. I shuffled closer to inspect it realizing that it was in fact, a tape-recorder. A small card was leaning against, spelling out scribbled words which asked to play it. I cast it a scowl. 

'Did you think I wouldn't come?'

Fear found me with a gradual cackle, my stomach lurching to my mouth and my mind willed my repulsor-cast hands to the looming shadow with wide-eyes. The shadow moved from the darkness on the balcony, hands raised on either side of his head and a glinting smirk on his face when he saw me wary and defensive. Of course, he had used stealth to mask himself from HELEN herself to give the element of surprise. That was the most Tony Stark thing to do.

I dropped my guard instantly, calling off the armour. 'I knew you would.'

Tony's armour was missing but the bright core ignited over his chest, tucking his hands into his pockets as he neared me. My first impulse was to bring him in for a hug and doing just that. I hadn't seen him since the day before when I'd left him and Margo at Rhodey's to get to Stephen for his opinion on the Wand of Watoomb. His hands went around my torso and I breathed him deeply.

'I'm sorry I left without a word,' I murmured into his neck. 'I was so worried for you—'

'All good,' he replied back, ceasing my rambles. 'I find it endearing, actually. Always one step ahead to save my ass.'

'Because I care.'

'If you cared,' he drawled, 'you would have whisked me off to Barbados and stepped out in Bordelle for me. Not gonna lie, the suit is sexy but lingerie is sexier.'

I was utterly winded. 'I—'

'Speaking of, I have never seen you in lingerie,' he mused, unconcerned of the life or death situation we were immersed into. 'Which is partially beneficial because I like my heart the way it beats and seeing you in said inner wear could quite possibly stop it.'

'I never liked them,' I said quietly. 'Too itchy.'

'Lace? Diamonds? Satin? Ooh, G-string—'

'Tony.'

'At least a thong?' He tried. 'No wait, you wear those like all the time.'

'Those are stockings.'

I pulled back with a grin. Tilting my head to the counter holding our next evidence, I asked, 'Want to help me with this?'

'Will you wear previously discussed dainties for me?' He struck a deal with a salacious smile playing on his lips. 'Please.'

'If we make it out alive.'

'Can't say no to that,' he walked ahead of me, crouching to scrutinize the tape-recorder that was out in the open, completely exposed. He spoke to JARVIS next. 'Scan it.'

'It's a tape-recorder,' I deadpanned with a roll of my eyes. 'You press play and it operates.'

'Honey, in my line of work, this could range from anything to a bomb that could disintegrate the western seaboard,' he stated with a hard expression, looking back at it. 'Not that it would be surprising.'

He pressed play. And it played, as I told him. I shot him a grim smile to which he gave me the finger.

'Hi, baby,' the voice breathily said. It was Whitney. 'It's me. I hope your wench is listening to this too. I'm sorry I attacked you like that the last time and Eleanor, your severed Maiden—I couldn't resist. But, Tony, you bring out the worst in me. Anyways, you're not known to bring out the best in anyone.'

'Uh, rude,' Tony scoffed.

'I know you both are frantic to spot out what I'm doing and why I'm doing it but first, figure out why you're doing what you are doing. You are addicted to your power as I am addicted to mine,' she sighed. 'Yours was created and mine is found. Mine is real, Anthony and yours are not. It's an illusion. All of it.'

How sick was this woman?

'Don't come near me and don't look for me,' she ordered in vain. 'I'm always one step ahead of you, my dear futurists. So I'll leave you both with one more warning—if you do continue to look for me, know that you're not the only one doing so.'

HELEN's call of my name was soft in my ears. While Tony's irradiant eyes were peeled on the suspended cassette, I glanced to the broken window where a shadow had just impelled away from the light. It was vague but the threat was imminent. It was my direct drive to grab Tony's arm to alert him.

'We're not alone.'

A soft swish from behind us confirmed my theory. Tony was quicker than I was, activating his suit and letting it coagulate with a slow tenacity. On impulse, I stimulated the instantaneous build of my suit and the armour fitting snug over my body. Calling on the helmet, I heard the slightest of disturbances from beyond the billowing curtain of the busted window. 

A sudden gush of pain jolted into my side with a hiss of fire, reeling me into the air for a second. I felt the obstruction come quick, the glass window shattering with my impact and I was airborne for a good ten seconds. As if on command, my repulsors were activated allowing me to levitate back from the punch. 

'Elle, honey?' I heard Tony's distraught voice in my ears from the comms. 

'I'm fine, I'm fine,' I breathed out. 

'Jesus, Ellie. Are you hurt?'

'A little.'

I looked at the deep fiery gash that ran over the side of my armour. It was sealed up with a sprite of nanoparticles, a sudden dispatch from my back helping me steady my flight. 

'What in the world struck me?' I whispered to myself.

'One second, ma'am, I'm running a thermal scan—'

'Uh oh,' I heard Tony mutter into the comms before he came hurtling out the window the same way I did, this time knocking into me as we both crashed to the grassy growth in the backyard of the building. I groaned, pushing him off me with a clang and steadying myself.

'May I suggest a hasty retreat, missus?' He asked with a deep groan, using my outstretched hand to help himself up. Before I could accept and comply, the movement in the building had our attention. 

From the macabre night that coloured the current condo haunted, at least seventeen, black bodysuit donning figures started to rapidly pour in front of us. They wore ski masks with parallel-lined visors which were the same colour as their suits and every one resembling the other in symmetry. All of them honed amber-lit, knuckled trench-knives on both limbs which gleamed brighter in the cool moonlight, slashing through the air to assert dominance.

'Too late,' I murmured. 

Behind us was the sea with a patch of white sand, giving us no reason for escape. My armoured footing sunk into the sand as the backed into us, efficiently rounding us up. 

'HELEN, I need some intel,' I said under my breath and looking behind me when I heard another swish of their swords. Tony had already had his stance ready for a fight when I stood blank.

'Well,' she responded slowly. Tony looked to me and I could see the smirk of excitement build on his face despite his helmet. He knew who they were before me and it was the worst moment to exist.

'Ninjas.'

∞

[ it's about to get GOOD :D ]

edited!