A/N : Happy Fourth of July❤️🇺🇸
I stood in the living room, taking a few good punches at the punching bag that hung in the corner of the room. Dad was out in the suit, fixing up the power grid so that Stark Tower would finally glow with clean energy, and Pepper was standing at the computer, watching the vitals of the tower as he worked.
By now the sun had completely sunk behind the city. New York was completely different from our isolated home out in Malibu. Here in New York, things never sleep, hence the name 'The City That Never Sleeps'. I had always wanted to visit New York, but I know that I could never live here. It's too different. Malibu is my home.
My fist connected with the bag, followed by a full on spin kick. I stumbled back, impressed with myself.
"That was nice, Jessi" Pepper clapped her hands together "If anyone was trying to attack me, I'd hope you're with me"
"Thank you" I bowed, extending my hand out like a Prince would do "I'll be here all week, or at least until I'm eighteen"
I continued to punch the bag, pretending to be in an action movie as Pepper was speaking to Dad through the communication link.
"You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?" Pepper asked.
"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy" Dad responded.
"Wow. So maybe our reactor takes over and it actually works?"
"I assume. Light her up"
Pepper pressed a button on the keyboard, switching on the STARK sign at the top of the tower. I could see the white words reflect on to the window.
Stark, my last name. My mind still wonders back to Sebastion. Every once in awhile I'll write Jessi Sebastion on a paper, and then I have to erase and correct it to Stark. But that only happens once in a blue moon. I realized that I had stopped punching, and the bag was just hanging there.
I hadn't even noticed that Dad had entered the house once again "Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself... twelve percent of the credit"
"Twelve percent?!" Pepper laughed, walking over to the bar area of the livingroom "of my baby?"
Dad followed after her, pointing his finger up "an argument can be made for fifteen" Pepper reached in to an ice filled bucket, pulling out a bottle "Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you"
"Oooooh" Pepper smirked, pouring herself a glass of champagne.
"My private elevator-"
"You mean OUR private elevator"
"-was teeming with sweaty workmen. I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"
"Not gonna be that subtle"
"I'll tell you what" Dad placed his hands on Peppers shoulders "Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower"
"Uh oh" I walked over, heading back to the stool at the kitchen table "Don't forget the 'S' at the end, we don't want any illegal substance users knocking on our front door"
"Wow" Pepper face palmed, I laughed "You're very funny Jessica"
"Thank you! Like I said, I'll be here all week" Dad chuckled, picking up his cellphone on the table.
"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten" Jarvis the A.I spoke.
"Stark, we need to talk" a voice spoke from Dad's phone.
I leaned forward in my stool, trying to see the face on his screen "Coulson?" I asked quietly to myself.
"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark" Dad held the phone up to his face unenthusiastically "please leave a message" I covered my mouth, holding in a laugh, Pepper did the same.
"This is urgent" Coulson said, urgently.
"Then leave it urgently" Dad replied, not wavering in his dull voice. A second later, the elevator opened, revealing a Coulson. Dad dropped the phone on the table "Security Breach!"
I raised my arms up in the air excitedly "Phil Coulson! My favorite Agent, where have you been for the past forever?"
"Come in!" Pepper stood up to greet him. He stepped in to the room, the elevator closing behind him.
"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent" Dad said, following after Pepper.
I smiled, pulling on Coulsons arm "Come on in, we're having a tiny Stark celebration!"
"Which is why he can't stay" Dad smiled fakely, gripping his glass of wine.
Phil held out a file in his other hand, Dad looked at it suspiciously "We need you to look this over"
Dad backed away "I don't like being handed things"
"That's alright" Pepper smiled, taking the file from his hand "cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade" she gave Dad the file and took the glass of wine from his hands, taking a sip for herself.
Dad was now officially annoyed, never a good thing "Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday"
"This isn't a consultation." Coulson clarified.
"Is this about The Avengers?" Pepper asked "Which I...I know nothing about"
"Oh" I sat down on my stool "I know ALL about that"
"Oh" Coulson intimidated me "I'm sure you do" I ease drop, a lot. It should be illegal because I do it too much.
The Avengers Initiative is basically an idea to form a group of miraculous people. Dad being one of them, the alien hot guy who came down to earth in a little town in New Mexico, and guess who else? Captain Freaking America! Yeah, that's right, you heard me. The man with a plan himself.
He's the guy I've spent most of my time on studying, researching, watching old films about, and visiting little memorials remembering him by. Dad doesn't care about him as much as I do, in fact, I don't think he cares about him at all. He doesn't tell me why.
"You know" Dad's voice snapped me from my little 'drift off' moment "When the kid found out about Captain Rodgers revival, she about tore the house down. She wouldn't concentrate, wouldn't sit still. It was weird"
"Hey!" I narrowed my eyes "like you haven't been excited about a dead person coming back to life"
"Dead people don't come back to life, that's the thing"
"You did! Sorta, in the desert..."
"Besides me! Anyway" Dad carried the file back to the table, giving it a quick look "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify. Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others"
I nodded, agreeing with every word he said "That sounds about right" Pepper laughed out loud. Phil pinched the bridge of his nose, trying his hardest not to smile.
"Mr. Stark" Coulson straightened out his usually stern face "This isn't about personality profiles anymore"
"Whatever" Dad pointed to Pepper "Ms. Potts" he motioned with his finger for her to come over "got a minute?"
I groaned going over to stand by Phil. He smiled, turning to the side to face me.
"So how have you been?"
"I've been good Jessi, been working a lot"
"I noticed" I shrugged "do you even know how to write an email? Not even a post card for almost two years!"
Coulson shook his head "it wasn't two years"
"It feels like it" I pointed out.
"How I do miss our talks" He said, shooting a glance to Dad and Pepper. Dad swiped his finger on the tablet, opening up multiple hologram screens. On those screens were videos, profiles, documents, etc of six different people (Dad included).
Natasha Romanoff was one of those people, along with the Thor God guy who came down to earth last year, Captain America (hyperventilating) and a giant, green man who I don't know much about, and also a dude. That's all I know about him, is that he's a dude with a bow and arrow.
"That's cool. Are those the Avenger people?" I asked Coulson, watching the green dude on the screen tearing up a place that looks a lot like Harlem.
"Hopefully" Coulson replied.
I looked over, cringing at what I saw. Pepper was doing something with Dad's ear, making him gasp.
My body shivered, nasty "They do this type of stuff all the time. You sorta never get use to it" Coulson looked away in embarrassment, not wanting to watch the horror film. Pepper gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away towards us.
"I'll see ya in a few days Jessi" she smiled, giving me a quick hug before walking in to the elevator with Coulson.
I waved to both of them and then strolled back over to stand with Dad. He was holding a white glowing square in hologram form. In the text box was typed The Tesseract.
I enlarged the video of Captain America fighting all the Nazi soldiers, or were they Hydra soldiers? Back in World War Two, the Allied powers were fighting against the Axis. The Captains main concern was Hydra. An organization run by a man called 'Red Skull' and he really had a red skull, scary huh?
"Hey Dad?" I asked, returning the video back to normal size and looking back to my Father.
"Hm?"
"What's the Tesseract?"
"Let's just say it's something that we should not mess with"
I took the square in my two hands, studying the way that the white light danced around in the hologram. My face skin glowed lightly from the color. What could be so harmful about a tiny little square?