Mentor

When people complained about the fact Director Nick Fury was crazy, I didn't question them. This was the man who had sent me to live with Tony Stark at the tender age of sixteen. I mean, really, at what point did sending a teenaged girl to live with a selfish billionaire sound like a good idea? Never, that's when. Maybe when hell froze over?

Mind you, I had been living with Tony for three years before his kidnapping, and he became slightly responsible with Iron Man in the picture. Still, at some points now I wondered if I was placed there to help Tony grow as a person and learn some responsibility or simply because Nick Fury saw the similarities in us, and thought that if someone could deal with me, and my oddities then Tony was that person.

I still wasn't certain how my extreme intelligence was an oddity though, I mean if the government wasn't up to anything then why were their servers so heavily guarded? It wasn't my fault they got lucky and managed to back trace my hack to the cafe I had been sitting in with my laptop. Momentary cockiness on my part. I was curious at sixteen though and did wonder what SHIELD was, it was only natural when I came across some buried file about it in the Pentagon database.

So, apprehended I was, until they realized they could use me. Since then most of my time was spent with Tony Stark if it was a way to punish me initially I wasn't sure, but keeping me out of my step-fathers house wasn't that much of a punishment so I had learned to embrace my new home with the selfish billionaire who eventually became a mentor of sorts. Even though I still choose to believe he was blackmailed into taking me.



"Man, what happened to my room!" I complain ignoring the fact I was twenty-two and should not be behaving like a child.

"See!" a voice exclaims, "See! I told you that was the first thing she'd say," Tony tells Pepper Potts who was following behind him, her eyes wide, "Not, glad you're okay Tony. Or 'Hey, who broke New York'?."

I roll my eyes before giving my mentor a pat on the shoulder, "There, there," I soothe sarcastically, "I knew you weren't dead. I didn't get any calls from lawyers telling me I had become a wealthy woman over night." I joke.

Pepper makes a disapproving noise as Tony stares me down for a moment as if to say 'Like hell you're inheriting anything'.

"What?" I question looking between the pair of them, "Too soon?"
Pepper's face shows her displeasure with my attempt to lighten the mood and Tony, no so subtly nods his head towards one of the intact doors not doubt wanting some alone time.

"Fine, no hugs or, glad you had a nice vacation in Malibu? Glade you were safe? No, nothing?" I question my two parental figures getting somewhat amused looks in return. "Well, I'll just go see what is left of some of the labs then shall I?" I ask rhetorically before spinning on my heel. I knew about everything that had happened, as soon as I had seen that New York was being attacked by aliens I had once more hacked into SHIELDs servers to pull up some real footage, I wasn't fully recovered from the brief phone call I had received from Tony telling me he was proud of me and to take care of Pepper as he disappeared into the sky.

Worst moment of my life thus far.

Pushing open the door, I see that my lab was mostly intact except the broken window and what looked like a hole in one of my computers. I feel myself pout a little and take in the two people sitting in the small lounge are off the side of my lab. A glass wall separated the bright white of the lab, looking out to the lounge which was warm looking, a little den for myself mostly. Usually used when I was waiting for the computer to finish processing something.

I recognized both men instantly, it was hard not to I had after all watched the footage with Tony and read through their personal files while he did. It wasn't my fault I was there when he was looking, as much as it wasn't his fault I had a photographic memory and remembered everything I had read and saw.

"Dr. Banner, Captain Rogers," I nod at them each as I enter the room, both men jump to offer their hands which makes me smile slightly as I shake them both, sitting down beside Bruce Banner on my soft leather sofa.

"So, Tony kick you out too?" I ask after a few moments of silence as the two men attempted to figure out who I was and why I was there. Steve Rogers nods once in confirmation, offering nothing else as he sits up straight in his seat reminding me very much of the solider that I had seen in the extremely grainy footage from 70 years ago.

"I'm sorry," Banner says somewhat slowly, though not rudely as he frowns, "who are you, exactly?"

I laugh at this startling the both of them, "On the record, I'd have to tell you my name is Veronica Stark, adopted daughter of Tony Stark. Off the record it's not much more interesting, some SHIELD involvement and the fact Tony never actually adopted me, but you know, can't have the press thinking he takes advantage of…. young girls…." I trail off seeing their slightly shocked looks.

"Right well.." I begin again somewhat awkwardly, "I'm just going to go see if my lab is still up and running, hack into the cities mainframe see if I can get those building permits to jump to the front of the approval line…"

After just a beat more of awkward silence I stand and refrain from giving a mocking curtsy to the men as I walk back through the door I more of less had just entered calling out to JARVIS who I hoped was still running.

"JARVIS? Close off the door and boot up my computers, you still there buddy? Let's get some tunes up in this joint!" I call out. It was only a moment before the glass door slides out of the wall effectively closing the opening in the glass wall more or less trapping the other two inside.

"Will that be all Ms. Andrews?"
I smile at the voice, as music begins to gradually get louder, "Yes, thank you."



"You might as well tell me what you did to them,"
"What makes you think I did anything?" I ask looking up from my computer screen briefly, they had left a while ago after somehow figuring out how to get the door to open and rushing past me avoiding eye contact. It was rather amusing, I wasn't sure if they were embarrassed by how they were acting or if I was simply that intimidating. Not that Captain America crept by, he had walked tall and proud from the room, closing the door with more force then I thought was necessary.

Okay, maybe I wasn't all that polite with my loud music and ignoring them but they had more or less sat there in a daze so why bother again today? Didn't want to blow their brains with information.

"Banner isn't one for jokes, but he just yelled 'Congratulations you're a father',"
"That proves nothing, maybe they simply came to that conclusion on their own,"
"Or you've been throwing around that SHIELD story again,"
"That is the one I'm suppose to tell, Dad"

Tony shivers at the title, his body flinching as he grimaces, suddenly his hand snaps forward shutting off the projected keyboard to halt my work.

"Don't call me that, you know it makes me feel parental. Now, back to my initial reason for-"
"Barging into my lab?"
"Coming to find you in this room where I bought you a lot of ridiculously expensive equipment to play with. Good job, haven't seen Grandpa America so shocked since well… the last bit of the 21 century hit him in the face. Good work though, now lets go. Pepper thinks we need to go out for dinner. Not sure why she's insisting you come though."

I pull my glasses off of my face, and set them down on the table giving Tony a grin.
"Missed you too" I tell him sincerely watching as his face twitches for a moment before he looks around the empty room, eyeing the open door behind him carefully.

"Okay," he sighs, "five seconds, starting now."

Not needing to be told twice I jump towards him giving him a fierce hug, smiling as his arms wrap around me quickly for a squeeze before pulling away as he backs towards the door.

"Let's go, theres an intact Chinese place down the street."

I watch him for a moment before he rolls his eyes, gesturing towards the door with his hands.
"Come onnn."