Chapter Text
“Good morning, Diane,” you said, placing her coffee order on her desk. It was Monday morning and every Monday you brought coffee for everyone on your team. It was a tradition you started when your tech company was 4 people. Now you had about 15 employees, still small but you were in the bar with the likes of Stark Industries and Bishop Securities.
“You are in a good mood,” she said, taking a sip of her iced coffee. “Did you have a good weekend?” You smiled.
“I spent the weekend up north with no service and a beautiful woman,” Diane smiled, shaking her head.
“Good, you deserved it. Let me know if you need anything.” You gave her a salute and headed through the rest of the office. You gave your employees their coffee and asked about their weekends. Finally, you sat down at your desk with a sigh. Mondays were the busiest with long meetings and phone calls to start the week on the right foot. You opened your email and saw you had over 1000 unread emails.
“Morning boss,” Taylor said as she came into your office with her laptop. You rolled your eyes.
“Not your boss, Tay.” You said, not looking up from your laptop. Taylor was your business partner and best friend since grade school. She set a bag down on your desk, you knew it was snacks to help you both get through the long meetings. She shrugged.
“Yeah, but your name is on the building.” That was true. Fundamentally, it was Taylor’s idea to focus the company on advancing medical products for veterans due to losing her father at a young age. But you were a Stark, the company was under your mother’s name as that was when you went by. L/n Production, you wanted nothing to do with Tony.
“Can you tell me why every news station is requesting a comment from me?” You asked. “What the hell happened?”
“That is where I come in,” Emily said, entering your office. Her usual put-together bun that sat on her head was disheveled. She must have had a long weekend and an early morning since no reporters were standing outside your office. “So, I’m guessing you didn’t see it.” You glared at her. “Sorry, don’t look at me like that.” She picked up her coffee and plugged her computer into the TV that was mounted on the wall. It took a moment for it to load and you saw a clip of an interview with your father and Jimmy Fallon. You groaned, holding up your hand.
“Wait,” you said before she pressed play. “Is this going to piss me off?” It was a zoom style interview as Tony lived upstate at the Avenger’s compound.
“Probably,” Taylor mumbled, sipping on her coffee. You sighed and waved your hand for Emily to continue. She pressed the spacebar.
“And your daughter, Y/n L/n,” you could tell the clip was from the middle of the interview. Tony put a smile at the mention of your name. “She’s making quite a name for herself. She and her team were given the Presidential Medal of Freedom and nominated for a Nobel Prize for their work in prosthetics.” Jimmy held up a picture of you and Tony at the White House. You invited him to the event to avoid the press, not that you wanted him there. “You must be extremely proud.”
“I am,” your jaw clenched. “She has made this old man very proud.” Well, that was news to you.
“When she was younger did she always have an interest in falling in your footsteps in the tech world?” Tony laughed.
“Jimmy, I couldn’t keep her out of my lab.”
“Oh my god,” you mumbled, putting your hands over your face.
“Those times spent together are memories that are important to me,” your father continued. “And I like to think that those memories shaped her into the person she is today.” The video ended. Your office was silent. Throughout your entire career, you’ve tried to separate yourself from him. Tony Stark. Ironman. He had many names but father wasn’t something you would call him. You were raised by the nannies he hired. You paid your way through school by working waitress jobs, retail jobs on holidays, and babysitting gigs when you had the time. You wanted nothing to do with Tony Stark since he wanted nothing to do with you. When your mother died, he didn’t even show up to the funeral.
“I’m gonna kill him.” You said, standing up and throwing your work essentials in your bag. You were taking a trip to Upstate New York. You didn’t wait for Taylor and Emily to say anything as you headed to the door.
“Egghead,” you stopped at the nickname Taylor called out. “I can’t afford to bail you out so don’t kill the man.” You chuckled, waved your hand, and left.
*
“Miss. Stark,” FRIDAY as you walked into the compound. “It has been a long time.”
“And I told you to stop calling me that,” you told the AI. The AI was silent for a moment.
“My apologies, it appears the boss changed it.” You sighed. Of course, he did.
“Where is he?” You asked.
“He’s in the conference room with the rest of the team. Would you like me to alert you of your arrival?” You smirked.
“Let’s surprise him, that’s more fun.”
*
Steve was standing in front of the team with a blueprint of a factory. The words were in Russian. You leaned against the open team, the team was engrossed in what the super soldier was saying you went unnoticed. While one person saw you, a certain redhead. The Russian smirked at you. You set her a playful wink. “Y/n,” Steve said, interrupting Tony. The table looked away from your father and to you. You gave them a small wave.
“It’s my favorite Stark!” Clint said. Tony rolled his eyes.
“I’m hurt, Legolas,” he finally looked at you. “I didn’t know you were making a trip up here.” You said. “Finish your meeting. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Don’t eat my leftovers like last time,” Clint called after you. You flipped him off over your shoulder.
That was the problem. You enjoyed the company of the other Avengers but being around Tony made your blood boil. It was frustrating. You opened the fridge and pulled out the ingredients to make a salad. You weren’t sure how long the meeting was going to be.
The answer was 45 minutes. In that time, you ate your salad, made coffee, and joined in on two meetings for work. You were sitting on the couch with your laptop open when the Avengers walked into the common floor. Clint made a beeline for the fridge, to make sure you didn’t eat his food. Steve went by the window with a sketchbook in his hands and Sam sat down next to you, turning on the TV. Finally, Tony walked in but he walked to the coffee pot instead of you. You sighed, standing up. “Do I smell or something?” Sam asked. You laughed.
“No, I have to go talk to the old man.”
“Good luck with that.” You smiled. Tony was pouring a cup of coffee into a mug.
“Hey, can we talk for a second?” You asked. He shook his head.
“Can’t right now. I have to do some notifications to the suit before the upcoming mission.” You bite back a sigh.
“Okay, how about when you are done?” He put the pot back on the machine.
“We’ll see if I’m not busy.” He began to walk towards his lab.
“So you’ll only talk about me in interviews, is that it?” Tony turned back to look at you. “Nice interview by the way. Jimmy knows how to bring out your good side.”
“You saw that.” He said, a hint of surprise in his voice.
“Half the world saw it, Tony, according to how many news stations were in my inbox looking for a statement.” You were becoming the center of attention with the other Avengers. You noticed a few more entering the space. Wanda and Vision were in the kitchen and Natasha were on the couch, her feet tucked underneath her as she watched the interaction between you and Tony.
“Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere else,” You laughed.
“Oh, now you have time for me because a few minutes ago you weren’t going to give me the time of day. But now since your image of yourself is being fucked with you have time,” you took a step forward. “Who are you to credit yourself with my accomplishments? How could you lack such common sense?” You asked. “You may have given me a name but blood doesn’t mean a thing 'cause I did it all on my own. So, disown me, you don’t owe me, I don’t want your money so feel free to leave me out of your will.” The man was silent in front of you. It was the first time you’d seen him speechless. “You don’t deserve the title of my father.” The slap caught you by surprise. You touched the spot he hit and stared at him. He seemed shocked. Your jaw clenched. The common floor was silent. It was a loud silence. “You are lucky I have any ounce of respect for Pepper or I would be suing your ass.” You grabbed your bag from the couch and walked towards the door. You heard footsteps behind you but you didn’t stop until you felt the sun on your face. You sat down on the bench, squeezing the metal. You looked at Natasha. She was frowning as she cupped the cheek Tony hit.
“Do you want me to kill me?” She asked. You shook your head.
“His death is not worth it to add to your ledger,” you said, kissing the palm of her head. She sat down next to you.
“He hit you,” she said. “He put his hands on his daughter.” You nodded.
“I know,” you whispered. “But it’s not your fight, okay?” She didn’t look convinced. She was angry and you knew if you allowed her to, she would march back in there and deal with him. “Just sit here with me.” You placed her head on her shoulder. She sighed and relaxed on the bench.
“Stay the night,” she said. That was the last thing you wanted to do. “This weekend wasn’t enough.” She kissed the top of your head. Her fingers skim underneath your shirt. “I’ll make it worth you're wild.” You smirked.
“Are you trying to bribe me into sleeping with you?” You asked. She smiled.
“You didn’t need much bribing this weekend,” you rolled your eyes. “Please malyshka (baby girl).” She whispered, kissing your cheek.
“Okay, since you are twisting my arm.” She laughed against your neck.
*
Knocking woke you up. You groaned and burrowed your head deeper into the pillow. But the knocking continued. You opened your eyes, blinking the sleep away. Natasha was slowly waking up. Her red hair fanned out over the pillow as she lay on her stomach facing you. “Who's at the door, FRIDAY?” She asked the AI.
“Mr. Stark is at your door,” the redhead sighed.
“I am going to kill him.” She mumbled. You kissed her shoulder.
“I’ll deal with him,” you stood up and found a shirt and shorts to throw on quickly. “Are you going with him knowing about us?” You asked. Natasha’s eyes were already closed.
“FRIDAY must have told him you were here,” she said, yawning. “I’ll deal with him later.” You smiled and headed to the door. You opened it. You could only imagine what you looked like. Your hair was probably a mess from Natasha running her fingers through it. You had hickeys on your skin. Since you were still half asleep you weren’t sure if you were wearing your clothes.
“Tony,” you said, leaning against the door frame. “Good morning. How are you?”
“What are you doing in Romanoff’s room?” He asked.
“Well Tony,” you noticed by saying his name was getting under his skin. “I’m sleeping with her.” You smiled. “I have been for a while,” you added.
“No, not happening,”
“Oh I missed the part where I asked you if it was okay,” you heard Natasha chuckle from inside her room.
“Your my kid I don’t-”
“I’m your kid?” You cut him off. “The last time I checked I disowned you and you slapped me across the face.” There was no bruise but the feeling was there. You flinched a few times when Natasha took you by surprise and touched your cheek.
“Look, I'm sorry.” You stared at him.
“Sorry about what exactly?” You asked. “Because you are the source of all my scarring. I spent too many years underneath rubble that I got myself out of. I put my heart back together. Do yourself a favor and leave me alone.” You closed the door on him. You took the clothes you were wearing off and climbed back into bed. Natasha rested her head on your chest and looked up at you. You loved staring into her green eyes.
“Are you okay, malysh (baby)?” She asked. You smiled.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
*
You made the trip back home that afternoon. It was nice being back in the city, in your apartment. You took a quick shower and changed into sweatpants and a white tank top. It was going to be a long night. You sat on your dining room table with a cup of coffee in your hands. You were watching a recorded zoom meeting that you missed. But you winced from a slight pinch on your neck. You touched your neck and felt a tranquilizer dart. The room around you began to spin. The coffee mug fell from your hands and shattered to the ground. You fell to the floor and the world went black.