Hello out there! So this is my second ever story. I'll be honest, I'm a little bored so I won't be offended if you guys don't like the story, but I'm trying to use creative writing as a reward for myself in between my college classes and homework. Please let me know what you guys think, I'm always looking for helpful critiques for my writing to help me improve.

Just a summary to fill you in on where we are, this story is going to start out in the first Iron Man movie and focus on an OC, Isabel Stark, who I kind of imagine would look like Naomi Scott, but y'all can put in whatever image you want. It's going to kind of examine the last 10 years of Marvel movies through her eyes, though there will be a few I'm not going to cover. I hope you guys like the story. Let me know if there are things you want to see.

Note: This is a re-upload. I am updating all the chapters before I continue with Endgame, correcting continuity errors, grammar mistakes (hopefully not creating new ones), and adding new content. Hope you all enjoy!

After chasing off another of his one-night stands, Pepper Potts descended the stairs to the workshop in Tony Stark's Malibu mansion. Rhodey, who was currently on the phone with her after being unable to reach Tony, was furious over the eccentric billionaire being nearly 3 hours late for takeoff. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked at her boss as he worked on some engine piece for one of his classic cars.

"Give me the exploded view." Tony was saying.

"The compression in cylinder 3 appears to be low." JARVIS replied.

Tony nodded. "Note that."

What made Pepper smile, despite her annoyance, was seeing the little girl sitting on his knee helping him work. Isabel Stark was eight years old and like a mini Tony, she was smart and talented, brash as any Stark but with an uncanny perception of people that made her rather empathetic and impossible not to love.

As she keyed in her code for the workshop, she was surprised to hear the music that was normally going in the workshop at a reasonable volume today. "You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now." Pepper said as she walked in. "Your flight was supposed to leave an hour and a half ago."

It didn't escape her notice that Isabel curled a little closer to Tony at the mention of his trip to Afghanistan; she was having a hard time with this trip because it was the first one where she had to stay home with Pepper. It just wasn't safe enough this time, but Tony still insisted on going himself.

"Funny, I thought with it being my plane and all it would just wait for me to get there." Tony said as he set down his tools and swiveled the chair around, his arms encircling his kid tightly.

"I need to speak to you about couple of things before I get you out the door." Pepper said looking at papers that were sitting on the simple black portfolio in her arms.

"I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?" Tony asked looking down at Izzy, who tilted her head back grinning, looking adorable with her tongue slightly poking through where she had lost a tooth recently.

"Larry called, he's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings, do you want it, yes or no?" Pepper asked continuing on like he hadn't spoken.

"Is it a good representation of his Spring Period?" Tony asked.

Pepper paused. "No, the 'Springs' is actually the neighborhood in East Hampton, where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like the season." Tony raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed. "I think it's a fair example...I think it's incredibly overpriced."

Tony thought about it. "I need it." He said lifting Isabel off his lap, so he could stand up. "Buy it, store it."

Pepper smiled fondly at him as she wrote it down. "Okay, the MIT commencement ceremony—"

"Is in June," Tony cut her off. "Please don't harangue me about this."

"Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm going to say yes." Pepper said as she followed him over to the coffee pot, Isabel remaining by the workbench. "I need you to sign this before you leave."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for?" Tony said. "You got plans?"

Pepper looked up at him with a bland expression. "As a matter of fact, I do." She said.

"I don't like it when you have plans." Tony said.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday." Pepper said.

Tony paused. "It's your birthday?" She nodded, he glanced over at Isabel who also nodded. "I knew that. Already?"

Pepper smiled tolerantly. "Yeah, isn't that funny? It's the same day as last year." She said.

Isabel laughed.

Tony smiled. "Well, get yourself something nice from me." She said.

"I did." Pepper said.

"Yeah?" He smiled.

"It was very nice, very tasteful." She said. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Ms. Potts." He said.

Isabel made a gagging face in the background. Tony sent her a look.

Pepper looked back and smiled warmly at Isabel, who smiled back. "My father is in town, and the three of us are going out to dinner and a movie." She said.

"We're gonna see Mamma Mia!" Isabel said beaming.

Tony smiled at his daughter's joy. "Well charge it all to me." He said turning back to Pepper. "Have a good birthday and thank you for watching her."

"I'm happy to." Pepper said.

He walked over to Isabel who was no longer smiling. He crouched down in front of her. "I have to go Izzy." He said. Her little pout tugged at his heartstrings. "Hey, I'll see you in two days."

Her little lower lip quivered as she continued to look at her shoes.

Tony lifted her chin. "Two sleeps." He said holding up two fingers. "Come on, you know the drill."

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Isabel said. "Why can't you just stay?"

"I'm the one presenting the Jericho." He said. "I have to be there." He sighed. "I have to go kid, come on, give me a hug."

Izzy wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "Please be safe." She said, voice muffled against his shoulder.

He hugged her tight and placed a kiss against her cheek. "When I get back, we'll go to New York, okay?" He said lightly as he released her. "It'll be a fun trip, and you can see Johnny and Sue."

Izzy nodded, still sad as Pepper moved to stand next to her, smoothing a hand over her dark curls.

Tony stood up. "I love you tons." He said.

"I love you 3000." Isabel said reaching up for one more hug.

…

Pepper was sitting on the sofa with her laptop open and the tv on low. She was dressed in pajama pants and a t-shirt and Isabel was curled up next to her, asleep in her pajamas as well. It was the second "sleep" and Tony was supposed to be home tomorrow. There hadn't been a lot of communications since he left, so Isabel was sad and missing him. She was being a little clingy with Pepper, who didn't mind at all.

Pepper looked down at the sweet raven-haired girl. When she first started with Stark Industries, Tony had only been the CEO of the company for a little over a year. She had learned a lot and had seen a lot of things working with Tony, but the biggest surprise of their time together was when Tony came back from a trip with this little newborn girl eight years ago. She was DNA tested against Tony and she was biologically his, but Tony never talked about Isabel's mother and never allowed anyone to dig into who her mother was either.

While everyone expected Tony to be a horrible father, he surprised the world when he made Isabel the center of his universe and seemed to be an overall excellent father. He told Pepper once while he was a little drunk that he would ensure that Isabel never felt neglected the way that he had as a child.

Pepper was broken out of her revere to Isabel suddenly waking up crying, calling for Tony. "Hey, Izzy, it's okay." She said taking the little girl in her arms. "You're having a nightmare, it's okay."

"Pepper, something bad happened." Izzy cried, clutching onto Pepper. "We need to help daddy."

Pepper couldn't see any other way to calm her down, so she tried to call Tony's cell, but there was no answer. She tried to call Rhodey, but there was no answer.

…

The next morning, Pepper paced back and forth in the living room making phone call after phone call. She hadn't heard from Tony or anyone, even Obadiah wasn't returning her calls right now. This wasn't like Tony especially when he knew how hard of a time Izzy was having with him being gone, he would normally have called her back within minutes, no matter the time or what he was doing.

Isabel was curled up on the sofa, still in pajamas, a tablet that she had designed with Tony in her hands and she was quietly working on the specks for the car engine that she had been working on with Tony before he left. She was exhausted, it had been a long night for her, and she was drained.

Pepper was about to dial Tony's number again when the front door opened. Both jumped in surprise, especially since JARVIS hadn't alerted them to a visitor, but Pepper saw Rhodey first before Isabel saw him. She immediately felt a pit grow in her stomach. Rhodey was here, but where was Tony?

"Uncle Rhodey?" Isabel said confused setting the tablet aside.

"Izzy." Rhodey said slowly, his face looking a little ashen as he noticed her. He was dressed in his military uniform, which he never wore to the house unless it was on official business.

Izzy looked past him, expecting to see Tony. She turned her brown eyes, eyes that looked so much like Tony's, onto Rhodey and she frowned. "Where's daddy?" She asked softly.

Pepper felt her chest constricting as she watched Rhodey kneel down in front of Izzy, taking her little hands in his as he told her that there was an attack while they were in Afghanistan and Tony was missing.