No Choice

Chapter One-Surprise

I watch the car drive away with a growing lump in my throat. Of course, uber isn't fancy enough to escort me to the door, but they could've at least waited until I disabled the gate to get in. Rude fuckers. Sighing and swallowing said lump, I turn to the panel and whip out my screwdriver from my belt. It helps to be prepared and I always have it on me. Weird? Sure. Fashionable? No. Do I care? Nope. It's surprisingly easy to get the panel apart and to hotwire it for the big, black gate to open. Leaving it that way, I walk through and hike my backpack further up my back as I begin the long trek up to the house leaning over the edge of the cliffs. Very practical, by the way.

It's not like I'm here for a joyride or some other stupid shit. Apparently, I'm Tony Stark's daughter. Yay. A product of one of his past crazy nights out where he was a little less than careful. My mom decided to drop this on me last night, then left for work, whatever the fuck that is for her, then the car came home in the morning instead of her. Whatever. She's never been a model mom anyways. So, here I am per her uber's instructions. No clue what else to do and I have nowhere else to go, so I'm going for broke here. A letter from my mother in my hands, I finally reach the door. With pursed lips, I ring the doorbell and jut my hip out to hold my hand. A bored expression on my face and worry in my heart; I wait.

"Hello. May I help you?" A soft, British voice comes on over unseen intercoms, although I look up and around anyways.

"Uh, hi. Amelia Leigh for Mr. Stark." I state while staring at the black glass door, preparing myself to see someone walk out.

"I don't have an appointment set for you." The automated voice continues confusedly. "Could you tell me what this meeting is about?" I bite my tongue indecisively and bounce up and down nervously.

"What's your name?" I ask instead.

"Jarvis, Miss Leigh." He tells me and recognition sparks in my head. This is Stark's A.I.

"Well, I'm his biological daughter. I know this is a shit situation and he may not want to know I exist, but here I am. Honestly, I don't really have anywhere else to go..." I trail off and purse my lips in distaste at the bit of emotion in my voice. "If you like, I can hack through you so you'll be blameless in Stark's eyes." I suggest, already taking my backpack off and getting out a thin copper strip of metal from the multi-colored group inside an old Mentos container.

"I'm not sure if that's possible, but most likely isn't necessary." He tells me, but I'm already whipping out my flathead screwdriver and once again prying up the little speaker pad.

"Now, Jarvis, was it? This won't bother you a bit. It'll work beside you. Like a daughter." I snort and trade my screwdriver for my pocket knife to cut open a green wire.

"I must discourage you from doing this Miss Leigh. I've already informed Mr. Stark of your arrival and while it seems he's still in shock, I'm positive he'll be with you soon." Jarvis continues talking as I gently wrap the thin strip of metal around the coils within the green rubber.

"Yeah, I'm not the most patient of people, Jarvis. Mind if I call you J?" I ask and replace the wire.

"Hey, Ames. What can I do for you?" A young female voice now speaks and I grin.

"I'm aware of another presence in the system, but cannot detect it's source. Miss Leigh, I implore you to remove this software." J continues with his protocols. Boring.

"He's a bit uptight, isn't he?" My own A.I. speaks and I smirk.

"Be nice, Amica. Could you just open the front door for me?" I request and put my pocket knife away, then put my backpack back on.

"Sure, boss. I'm on it." The door opens almost instantaneously and I happily walk through it while Amica closes it behind me.

"I'm still against this." Jarvis makes his stance clear as I walk into the cavernous house and look around.