Just A Normal Kid

Chapter 7

'Natalie Rushman' was annoyed at her boss for giving her this mission. She had no interest in working for Stark even if it was to keep an eye on him. She was among the best agents he had! Why the hell was she babysitting the bratty billionaire? Natalie had protested the assignment, but it had all been in vain. Her boss had stood firm on the mission.

That was how Natalie found herself getting into a car with Miss. Potts, to-be-CEO of Stark Industries. Holding a small briefcase containing the papers Stark was supposed to sign, Natalie smoothed the wrinkles in her blouse as the car drove on. "Thank you for coming out all this way just to get the papers signed." The other woman smiled at her.

"It was not a problem, Miss Potts. I would like to think that congratulations are in order."

She laughed. "Thank you. But please, call me Pepper."

"Where are we going, Pepper?" Natalie asked, wanting to know where Stark had disappeared off to.

"The Malibu house. Tony moved there a few weeks ago. I would like to remind you of the NDAs you signed when you started working with us and that the consequences for revealing any information you find will be severe."

This did nothing to help with Natalie's curiosity, and she began mentally hypothesising about what exactly was going on in the Malibu home of Tony Stark. Sure, she knew that Stark worked on many high-level projects that were kept secret in order to prevent industrial espionage, but she had read the NDAs before signing them and one clause had piqued her interest. It specified that she would not speak to anyone about any person or persons that she met while working with Mr. Stark, no matter who they might be.

Did that mean that there was some secret person living with Stark? Maybe he had a child? Or was it another girlfriend?

Natalie was interrupted from her thoughts by Potts saying, "We're here. If you'd excuse me, I have to make a call."

"Of course."

Potts turned her back to Natalie as she made the call. Natalie didn't bother to listen in; it wasn't her job to know about everything that happened in Potts' life, after all. She was here only for Stark.

Potts hung up, and turned to Natalie. "Tony has an A.I installed, his name is J.A.R.V.I.S, and he'll let us in." Natalie gathered her papers, getting out of the car after the other woman. As soon as they entered the door, a voice greeted them. "Welcome, Miss Potts. Boss is in the training room. Would you like to go down there?"

"Yes. And this is Miss Rushman. She's here to finalise the transfer of power." The woman walked off, leaving Natalie in the hallway.

"Miss Rushman, please present identification to the scanner." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

Natalie held up her employee pass, "ID confirmed. Please step through the metal detector, Miss Rushman." After she did, J.A.R.V.I.S confirmed, "No unauthorised materials. Welcome to Malibu, Miss Rushman. Please follow the guiding lights to the training room." A row of lights lit up on the floor, and Natalie did as she was asked to.

She walked into a room that which screamed "Training Room". It had padded walls, punching bags and gym equipment littered the area and there was an honest-to-god boxing ring in the middle, where Stark was facing off with another man.

But what surprised her the most was the girl sitting on a desk and laughing. She was wearing a simple outfit consisting of black tights, a grey "Girl Power" T-shirt and a pair of gym shoes. Natalie was thrown off by this casual look. She was obviously not an employee. Did Stark really have a daughter? Even though there wasn't any resemblance she could see, that hypothesis seemed quite likely.