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

09

The school days that followed after Maya had told Tony about her getting picked on were awful. The kids were still mean and no one bothered being her friend.

Every day was the same. Maya would take her normal seat in the front of the class. Then throughout the class, the boy sitting next to her, Derek, would pick on her. When she answered a question wrong he would laugh and mutter, "Told you that you weren't cut out for this." When class would finally end, Derek and his friends would push her out of the way. Whenever Maya passed them in the hall, they would push her in to the wall.

But Maya didn't complain or tell Tony. She pretended as if everything was better now, when really it wasn't. However, Tony didn't buy her act. Today, in fact, he had decided to check up on her through the school's security cameras. It took him a couple of minutes to hack into the security cameras and then he watched as Maya got picked on throughout the day.

Every time Maya was thrown against the wall, he felt a pang in his heart. Why were people so rude to his little girl? Maya may not think so, but he really cared for her. She was all he had and seeing her in pain was causing Tony pain.

That's why Tony had called the school and told them that Maya wouldn't be at school for a little bit. The school didn't object when the Tony Stark asked something of them. He was a famous billionaire and no one wanted to say no to him. So when Maya received a packet of notes and projects that were all due in a month from each class, she knew something was up.

"Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Maya greeted when she walked through the door. "Good afternoon, Miss Maya," J.A.R.V.I.S. said. "Where's Tony?" Maya asked as she set her backpack down on the couch. She took out the stack of papers while J.A.R.V.I.S. answered, "Down in the lab." "Thanks, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Maya smiled. "Anything for you, Miss Maya," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

Maya made her way down to the lab with the stack of papers in her hand. She knew Tony had something to do with it and she wondered what was up. Maya punched in the code for the lab and walked inside. Tony was at a table with what looked like armor for his arm on the table. He would glance at the screen and then fix something in the armor.

Maya cleared her throat when Tony still hadn't noticed her. Tony looked up and smiled when he saw Maya. She was wearing a baseball cap on backwards, a black shirt with red plaid over it, a pair of jeans, a pair of her black converse, and a questioning look was on her face. "Hey, kid. How was school?" Tony asked. "Peachy," Maya replied. She walked over to him and dropped the stack of papers on the table. Tony arched an eyebrow and gave her a confused look. "Explain," Maya demanded.

"Explain what?" Tony asked as he avoided Maya's gaze. Maya gave him a look that basically screamed 'are you serious?' Tony shrugged and said, "I thought we could take some time off from work and school and work on a little project together."

"Project?" Maya questioned. Her eyes landed on the armor on the table and Tony noticed. He nodded and Maya realized what he was doing. "Oh my gosh! You're building that thing again!" Maya exclaimed. "What?" Tony asked. "The armor! The metal armor that you used to escape!" Maya exclaimed.

Maya didn't understand why he needed another suit of armor. There had to be a reason if he needed something to protect him. "I-is something wrong?" Maya asked worriedly. Tony's eyes widened. "No. No. Nothing like that. I just thought it'd be handy in case something did happen," Tony explained.

Maya sighed in relief, but she couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling that settled in her stomach. "You really want me to help you?" Maya asked. "Couldn't think of a better partner," Tony told her. Maya smiled at his words. Maybe all she needed was some time off and to spend it with her father. Maybe she could even make Tony proud over the next month.