Life as Maya Stark • Iron Man's Daughter [ 1 ]

04

Nothing.

Maya had no ideas. Absolutely nothing popped into her head and Maya was growing frustrated. Maya glanced down at her empty paper and then started banging her head against the table in frustration.

"Come on! Think! Think!" Maya groaned.

Maya then sat up and looked up at the ceiling before asking, "J.A.R.V.I.S., how long have I been at work?" "Five minutes, Miss Maya," J.A.R.V.I.S. answered. Maya groaned and then hit her head against the desk hard.

Maya then immediately sat up and put a hand to her forehead in pain. Maybe she shouldn't hit her head against the desk anymore...

"Have you found anything about Tony's location?" Maya asked. "No, sorry miss," J.A.R.V.I.S. answered. Maya paused before asking, "How about now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Well. . . . .how about now?"

"Still no."

Maya groaned and then sat back in her chair. "Would you like a piece of advice, Miss Maya?" J.A.R.V.I.S. asked. "Please," Maya pleaded. "When Mr. Stark has trouble coming up with ideas, he likes to think about what he needs in his design before actually coming up with the design. For example, if you are going all the way to Afghanistan, it would be a good idea to start with how you are going to get there," J.A.R.V.I.S. told the girl.

Maya's eyes widened as she came up with an idea. "J.A.R.V.I.S., you're a genius!" Maya exclaimed as she started sketching a plan. Maya stopped and looked at the rough sketch of her design. "That's a wonderful idea, Miss Maya," J.A.R.V.I.S. said. "Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Maya whispered as she smiled at her design.

The design was of a special pair of rocket boots. They weren't like the ones anyone has seen in the movies. Maya imagined the boots themselves as looking like regular boots where no one would be able to tell that they were rocket boots. Maya smiled proudly at the design before placing the blueprint down.

"Let's get to work."

-----

Over the next two months, Maya was busy building her rocket boots. She would spend weeks without sleep until finally it was too much for her eight year old body to take and she would sleep for a full day.

Pepper would constantly check on the girl. Pepper was basically the only reason that Maya was alive. She'd bring her food that Maya would take bites out of and then never touch again. Pepper would also bring Maya water and whenever Maya fell asleep, Pepper would sneak downstairs and place a blanket over Maya.

At one point, Pepper even questioned what Maya had been doing. Maya had instantly lied and told her that it was just an invention that would hopefully get her mind off of Tony. Pepper had been ecstatic about the idea of Maya finally getting her mind off of Tony and had stopped asking questions after that.

In the end Pepper acted like a better parent than Tony had in the five minutes that he was with Maya. But Maya was still persistent and she was determined to save her father, even if she would have to leave once he got back.

"Maya, right?"

Maya was instantly snapped out of her thoughts and she quickly turned around ready to fight the intruder. A man stood there in a colonel jacket and Maya studied the man, trying to determine if she could trust him. The man took a step forward with his hand out and Maya took this gesture as a bad sign.

Maya grabbed his arm and flipped him over, making the man fall on his back. The man groaned and Maya readied herself for another attack. "How did you do that?" the man asked in amazement. Maya glared at him as a million questions popped into her head. How did he get in here? Who was he? Why was he here in the first place?

The man's eyes widened and he held his hands up in defeat. "Woah, woah, woah. I'm not going to hurt you," the man assured Maya. Maya glared at the man as she asked, "Who are you and how did you get down here?"

The man got up slowly and Maya took a couple of steps back in precaution. "My name is James Rhodes, but people call me Rhodey. I'm a friend of your father," the man said. Maya's protective wall fell at the mention of her father. "Tony?" Maya asked in a small voice, tears already filling her eyes at the mention of her father.

Rhodey nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm friends with Tony Stark." Maya's hands fell down to her side and she tried to compose herself. Maya quickly turned away so that Rhodey wouldn't see her tears. Maya went back to fixing her rocket boots while Rhodey studied the girl.

"You're really Tony's daughter?" Rhodey asked in surprise. "No, I'm just saying I'm his daughter for the publicity," Maya said sarcastically. "You're his daughter alright," Rhodey chuckled. Maya gave him a weird look and Rhodey coughed nervously.

"So, you never answered my question earlier. How did you flip me like that?" Rhodey asked. "I took self defense classes when I was little and eventually taught myself some other things that I could use for defense," Maya stated simply. "Why?" Rhodey asked. "To protect myself," Maya stated bluntly. This man was getting on her nerves with all of these questions.

"So, why are you here?" Maya asked, hoping to make the man stop asking questions. "Pepper told me that you were always down here and she thought it'd be nice if someone showed you around town," Rhodey said. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm happy down here," Maya told the man as she tightened some screws on her boots.

"Now you really sound like your father," Rhodey chuckled. Maya sighed and turned to look at Rhodey. "He doesn't want to be my father, so can you please stop referring to him as that?" Maya asked before turning away.

Maya didn't like it when other people kept calling Tony her father. It was okay if she said it, but when others said it, it just reminded her of how Tony didn't want to be her father.

"He doesn't want to-" Rhodey trailed off in anger. "When he comes back I'm going to seriously-" Rhodey started talking to himself, but Maya froze when she heard him. "Tony's coming back?" Maya asked in excitement. Rhodey looked at the excited girl and then felt horrible for his poor choice in words. "Actually, I'm not sure. I should have said if he comes back," Rhodey said.

Maya frowned as her bubble was popped. Anger filled her as she said, "He is coming back." Maya placed her screwdriver down and muttered, "I'm making sure of it."

"What?" Rhodey asked. "Oh, nothing. How about you give me that tour?" Maya asked, hoping to make Rhodey stop asking questions. "I thought you didn't want me to give you a tour," Rhodey stated. "Well, I changed my mind. People can do that, you know. Now let's go Mr. Chatterbox," Maya said as she pushed Rhodey out of the lab.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., make sure no one goes in the lab while I'm gone," Maya said. "As you wish, Miss Maya," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied before Rhodey and Maya walked out the door. Rhodey chuckled and said, "Once again, definitely Tony's daughter."