Tony Stark ushered the man in the cheap, worn-out brown suit into his office, after the man told the little girl that was with him to wait in the conference room. Everything on this floor of Stark Tower was made of glass, so the two men could clearly see the girl playing with her teddy bear as they sat at the desk. Tony leaned back in his seat, unimpressed with the interruption of this visit. Especially considering he wasn't given any details over the phone. He was a busy man and had many things to do.

"What did you say your name was?" Tony asked him.

"Gavin Daniels. I'm from children and family services." Gavin explained.

"And what can I do for you? You never explained on the phone. A donation? You didn't have to bring the kid to sell yourself. I'm a giving man Mr. Daniels. I'm a bit of a philanthropist, if you didn't know."

"Actually, I did know. We've done a thorough investigation before coming here and I can assure you, it's not for money." Gavin said as he opened up his briefcase and pulled out a file to hand to Tony, "This is a file from Maria Whitmores lawyers."

Tony took the file as he replied, "Maria Whitmore? God, I haven't heard that name in 7 ye-" He stopped and glanced at Gavin, then the little girl he could clearly see through the glass walls, then the file he had yet to open.

Tony was a smart man but it didn't take a genius to figure out where this meeting was heading. He flipped open the file and the first thing he saw was the death certificate of one Maria Whitmore. Car accident – typical. He flipped through a few more papers and found a birth certificate for a little girl born 7 years ago. Her name was Emery Stark – Whitmore and Tony is listed as the father.

Tony glanced at the little girl again, only this time she wasn't looking down and playing with her teddy bear. She was looking through the glass walls, right at him. He was going to get a paternity test done obviously, but looking at her now, he wondered if he even had too. Despite brushing the child off as insignificant earlier, he could see the resemblance between the two of them now. Dark hair, dark and deep eyes. She had the same nose as him for crying out loud. The thought scared him to no end and he turned back to Gavin.

"There must be some mistake. There is no way she's my daughter."

"Did you have sexual relations with Maria Whitmore 7 years ago?" Gavin asked him, leaning forward, place his elbows on the table.

"I don't know, maybe? I don't keep track of who I've been with and when. Do you?" Tony responded quickly. Gavin looked flustered at the question but Tony paid no mind and continued talking, "There is no way I have a kid. Sorry you had to waste my time. She'll just have to live with her grandparents or something."

Gavin shook his head after regaining his composure, "I'm afraid that's not possible. You're the last living relative listed. If you deny your parental rights, the girl will go into the system."

Tony glanced at the girl before looking back at Gavin with a serious look crossing his features. He was contemplating something as he looked deep within Gavin's eyes. It made Gavin nearly gulp under his intimidating gaze but he didn't really know why he felt that way. Of course, Ironman staring him down could be a good reason but he held his own. He wasn't the bad guy here after all.

"What happens to kids that grow up in the system?" Tony finally asked.

"Some turn out alright Mr. Stark." Gavin replied.

"That wasn't my question Mr. Daniels. I want facts and statistics. As an educated professional, I know you have them. Tell me." Tony demanded.

"I don't have all the numbers but I can give you some facts. There are studies that show that nearly one third of children in foster care reported being abused – sexually or otherwise – by foster parents. That doesn't include the abuse from other foster children within the home. Children in foster care that are over the age of 5, rarely get adopted. They are likely to bounce around foster homes until they get too old for families to want them and then they get put into a group home. Many children age out of the system with nowhere to go. No job prospects, no housing and potential history of abuse leads to criminal activity such as drug dealing, armed robbery, and prostitution. The system is broken Mr. Stark, the amount of children that come out unscathed and actually go to college is not as high as it should be."

"And if I send that girl away. That's her future?" Tony didn't break eye contact. In fact, he didn't even show an ounce of what he was feeling at that particular moment. He was analytical and detached – as if solving a math problem which in a way, he was.

"It's not set in stone but the possibility is high." Gavin was nothing but honest. If he could save a child from the system, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"After the paternity test is done, tell me what I need to do."

And that was that. The meeting had ended and Gavin took Emery with him when he left. The little girl looked back at Tony as they walked towards the elevator and smiled softly as she waved goodbye. Tony waved back, not knowing what else to do. He stayed standing in the middle of the hall, watching as the elevator separated him from his daughter. He doesn't know how long he was standing there but that is exactly where Pepper Potts found him and dragged him away because he had a video conference.

The paternity test was done within days and proved exactly what the birth certificate said, not that Tony had any doubts to begin with. He wants to say he would have taken the girl even if the test was negative but he honestly doesn't know what he would have done. That was a thought he quickly disregarded though because he was, in fact, Emery's father.

It was a process to get her to come live with him. There were interviews, home inspections and observations, etc. But he passed with flying colours. The little girl would be well taken care of and protected and loved. It was a shock almost; how fast Tony grew attached to the girl. He didn't want to be like his own father, he refused, so he did everything he could to prove to his little girl that he loved her.

Emery was a bright child too. Clearly getting his intelligence and thirst for knowledge. As well as his love of science and technology. It was something they bonded over through the years. He would have been proud regardless of her likes and interests but there was a sense of satisfaction knowing that she was following in his footsteps.

She wanted to know and experience everything. She was constantly experimenting in the labs and when Natasha Romanoff met her for the first time, they immediately started training as well. As long as she didn't expect to go on missions or join SHIELD, he was okay with it. Everyone should be able to protect themselves. Especially her.

The more Tony started getting involved with the Avengers though, the more Emery started acting out however. It started off small with little fights on the playground and then escalated from there. With her training from Black Widow, Emery could wipe the floor with anyone as she picked up her fighting style and advanced quite quickly. They were on par with each other now, so Tony had to sit down with Emery and tell her that she couldn't keep fighting because her body was now considered a lethal weapon and she could get in a lot for trouble for it. So, Emery found other ways to cause trouble.

That is why she, a 15-year-old high school student, is sitting in the principal's office at her ritzy private school on the upper east side of Manhattan. Her father had just entered the office and shot her an unimpressed look as he sat down in the chair beside her and faced the principal.

"I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement Mr. Jackson." Tony said to the white-haired man with square glasses that were so out of date, "It's only her first offence."

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but this is strike three." The old man responded.

"Strike three?!" Tony nearly shouted and looked at his daughter, "What does he mean strike three?"

"W-well, it's not a big deal, really." Emery said as she scratched her cheek and looked in the opposite direction to avoid eye-contact.

"We were very thankful for your donation to replace all the books that were lost when the library was set on fire. And covering the cost to get the halls cleaned when all those birds got into the school- " Emery took a quick glance at her father, who raised his eyebrow at her at the accusations, but looked back down at her hands just as quick, "But I'm afraid, blowing up the science lab is the last straw. We can't have someone so reckless in our school."

"To be fair, they were all accidents." she tried but quieted down at the looks she just received from both men present.

"I understand sir. I will give another donation to the school to rebuild the science lab. You can expect a cheque in the next couple days. I'll have one of my associates hand deliver it to you." Tony said, standing up and shaking Mr. Jacksons hand.

"Mr. Stark?" Mr. Jackson called when Emery had exited the office, leaving only the two men, "Emery has one of the brightest minds I've ever come across. Despite the...unfortunate...events that lead to her expulsion, I have no doubt that she will accomplish great things. I think she might be a bit lonely to be honest. I hope she makes friends at her new school."

"What about her friends here?" Tony asked.

"As far as I know, she didn't have any."

Tony nodded and then left the office. They walked in silence out of the school. A word wasn't said until they got in the town car that Happy was driving. Tony didn't know what to say at first. That last statement from Mr. Jackson kind of put a couple things in perspective for him. His daughter was a recluse and he had no idea how to deal with that.

"I could go for some Chinese. How about you?" He asked her.

Emery was surprised to say the least. She expected some sort of scolding or grounding or something of the sort. This wasn't exactly her first expulsion and she knew it was waring on her father's nerves.

"uh...y-yeah. That sounds good. Should we call Pepper?" Emery suggested.

"No. I think it should just be me and you tonight. We'll bring something home for her though."

That was somewhat worrisome. Emery and Tony haven't done this since the time he took her out to tell her he and Pepper split up. It made her gnaw on her bottom lip as they drove through the city to their favourite Chinese restaurant. They went in, took a seat and ordered their food. Happy was a few tables over, ordering for himself but stayed close by, just in case. Tony sighed when the waitress left to fill their orders and Emery closed her eyes, waiting for it.

"Boarding school didn't work, private school didn't work, what am I going to do with you? How did I not even know about the fire and the birds?"

"Pepper helped me cover it up but there is an easy solution... You could teach me!" Emery suggested enthusiastically, "School is boring. It's not challenging enough." It wasn't the first time she suggested it.

"You know I can't do that Emery."

"Why? Because you're too busy with your dream team?" She said bitterly as she crossed her arms and leaned back, "They're not even together anymore."

"No, because I'm not a teacher. I'm a business owner. I can't take time to teach you calculus when I have a business to run." Tony said, "And don't use that tone with me."

"Sorry...but I already know calculus. That's the problem. They aren't teaching me anything new. I could learn more from you in a day than I could from any school in a year."

"There is one thing that school has that I can't give you." Tony said.

"And what's that?" Emery scoffed.

"Friends. People your own age. Healthy social interaction to name a few."

Emery was speechless at first but regained her bearings, "I don't need friends. I have you and Pepper and Happy, and FRIDAY and -"

"We're not your friends Emery. You need people your own age that you can complain to about me. You need people that understand the things you're going through."

"I'll get friends in college. I'll probably have more in common with people I meet in college than people I meet in high school anyway." Emery shrugged as the waitress brought their food and she took a big bite of her soo guy.

"You won't be getting into college without a high school diploma. I have connections but I'm not a miracle worker. No college will accept you if you don't have the credentials."

Emery groaned, "Fine. But I doubt the private schools around here will even take a second look at me anymore."

Tony tapped his lips with his chopsticks as if deep in thought, "I think I have another school in mind and you might actually enjoy this one."

Emery raised her eyebrow, "Should I be worried?"

"I can't believe you're sending me to public school." Emery deadpanned into the phone as she stared up at the building before her.

Happy had just dropped her off and sped away before she could turn around and get back into the car. She wasn't told what school she was going to attend before arriving. Tony knew his daughter would put up a fight if she found out, so he kept telling her it was a surprise. The surprise was so underwhelming though that she kind of wished she didn't screw up so much at the previous school.

"It's a great school. Students have a hard time even getting into it, they have some of the brightest minds on the east coast. Amazing science and tech program. You'll love it, just give it a chance." Tony said on the other end.

"How did you even find out about this hole in the wall?" She asked as she moved toward the front doors.

"Hole in the wall? I don't think so. It's one of the greatest schools in New York according to Education Weekly."

"Mhmm...not what I asked." Emery said, finally entering the school and locating the office.

Tony sighed, "Heard about it from a friend. Now get your schedule and get to class and have a good day."

"Yeah, yeah, alright." She paused outside the office.

"And Emery?"

"Yeah dad?"

"Try and make some friends this time, would you? Join a club or something." He suggested/demanded, "End call."

Emery hung up the phone and sighed, "Not likely." She muttered as she entered the office and went over to the secretary's desk.

"How can I help you sweetheart?" The old lady behind the desk asked with a smile.

She had grey hair and the crows feet could be seen in the corner of her eyes behind her half-moon glasses. She seemed like a kind lady who loved her job. The secretary at her last school was on the younger side and had an attitude problem. Then again, Emery thought, she probably just didn't like me.

"I'm new here. I'm here for my timetable? My dad called yesterday to make sure you got the registration forms he sent in." Emery replied.

"And what's your name?"

"Umm...Emery Stark-Whitmore." She mumbled quietly.

Emery was proud to be a Stark. She loved her father and everything he's accomplished both at Stark Industries and as Ironman but people tended to freak out when they hear her name. She wanted to keep a sense of normalcy for as long as possible. Not that whispering her name mattered much though, since she had just as prominent a face in the media as her father. People were bound to recognize her.

"Here you go Miss. Stark-Whitmore, your locker information is at the top as well. Enjoy your first day and if you have any trouble, I'll be happy to help."

With a quick 'thank you', Emery was out of the office and walking down the hallway. She looked at the locker numbers as she walked, looking for the number that matched the one on her timetable. When she finally found it, she put in the combo and tried to open the door but it seemed stuck. Emery couldn't help but think how typical it was. Of course the new kid would get the faulty locker – that had to be some variation of Murphy's Law.

Emery yanked on it with all her might and it finally popped open. Only problem was, that it popped open so fast it swung and hit the person in the face that had just come up to her. They let out a noise of discontent before pushing the locker door slightly away and rubbed their forehead quickly. Emery didn't bother to apologize; they shouldn't have been standing there to begin with. When the guy was satisfied with the receding pain, he dropped his hand and looked to Emery who already had an eyebrow raised.

"U-uh hey!" He kind of stuttered, "I'm Peter Parker. I thought I'd come and you know, uh, introduce myself? You're new here right?"

Subtle...not.

"I know who you are Parker. I'm not an idiot." It suddenly made sense to Emery. The 'friend' that told Tony about the school was Spiderman.

His eyes widened, "Y-you know me? What do you mean?"

"When did he call you and ask you to keep tabs on me?" Emery asked as she shoved some stuff into her locker, only keeping a couple notebooks and pens with her, as she didn't have any textbooks yet.

"I-" He squeaked and then cleared his throat, "I don't know what you're talking about. I only just wanted to say 'hi' and introduce myself."

"I have an IQ of 212. Not as high as yours and definitely not as high as my fathers, of course, but definitely genius level. I am, however, more adept at reading body language than you, apparently. Your stutter and nervous gripping of the strap on your backpack tells me that you don't normally go up to people you don't know and introduce yourself. That leads me to believe that someone put you up to it." Emery explained as she shut her locker and turned fully to face Peter Parker, "Since I'm new and nobody knows me yet and the fact that you know my father personally, lets me deduce that it was most likely him that asked you to do so. Am I wrong?" She kept her eyebrow raised and waited for his response.

He broke rather quickly, "Alright! Fine! You caught me! Please don't tell Mr. Stark! I really want to impress him and he made it very clear that you were not to find out."

If she were looking for a single word to describe Peter, she'd call him a spaz. She hadn't met him before, obviously, not even as Spiderman but from the file her dad keeps on him and the story he told her of the battle in Germany, Peter Parker was an oddball. Infinitely curious and excitable with a constant need to prove himself, was how her father described him. She wasn't quite sure at the time if she even believed her father but her first impression of her fellow classmate, kind of solidified his character.

"I won't tell him on one condition." Emery stated, "You keep your tab-keeping at a distance. I'm here to go to school, get my diploma and get out. I don't want to get caught up in any personalities or drama. It's not my scene. So just try not to talk to me, cool?" Emery clapped her hands as she said the last word, to enforce it.

Peter nodded, "Uh, y-yeah, okay. I'll try not bother you then. Though I was, you know, kind of hoping we could be...uh...I guess I thought...d-did umm...I was hoping we'd become friends." He finally spit out.

The bell rang for class and Emery looked at her timetable, "I don't have friends. Sorry." She started backing away, "By the way, if I know my father, he probably knew I'd figure it out quickly anyway."

And that was that. Peter didn't try to talk to her again for two weeks. Emery could still feel his eyes on her whenever they were in the same vicinity but other than that, no other contact was made. Just how she liked it. She liked her classes well enough too. Even though they were still relatively easy, they were way more advanced than her previous school. Emery couldn't help but think her dad knew what he was doing, sending her here.

Emery kept to herself still though and didn't even answer any questions in class in hopes she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself. She heard the whispers though. Everyone in school knew who she was by the end of the first day. A couple witnesses who saw her attitude toward Peter spread the word that she was here and that she wasn't approachable so most people kept their distance. There were a select few that tried to 'recruit' her into their group of friends but Emery was having none of it. She would just scoff and walk away or tell them they weren't worth her time.

Everyone got the memo except for one Flash Thompson. He was away on holiday the past couple weeks so when he arrived to school that Wednesday and heard that Tony Starks gorgeous daughter now attended Midtown Highschool of Science and Technology, he had to see for himself. So Flash kept an eye out all morning but didn't spot her until lunch.

There were many people in the cafeteria during lunch but Emery still managed to find a seat at a relatively empty table. Peter and his friend Ned Leeds were down the table a bit but if she sat at the end she was far enough away that she wouldn't be associated with them. She took out her homemade lunch which was California rolls Lucy, the cook, made for her, and set it on the table. Just as she was about to sit down, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Emery turned to face the dark-skinned boy with a bored look. She had no idea who he was but judging by the smug and cocky look in his eye, he knew exactly who she was.

"Hey, I'm Flash." He smiled what he thought was a charming smile.

"That's a stupid name." Emery deadpanned and went to sit again but he stopped her from doing so, "What do you want?" She said exasperatedly.

"Just thought I'd see if you would like to eat lunch with me? People like you and me should stick together." He said almost smoothly.

"People like you and me?" She was confused. She was aware of all the eyes on them but didn't look around.

"Yeah, you know, rich and beautiful."

As he said 'beautiful', he ran his hand from her shoulder and down her back, but before he could reach his intended destination, Emery grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and had him pressed over the table, his face digging into the smooth surface. There were multiple gasps through the lunch room at the action.

"What are you doing?!" Flash tried shouting but was somewhat out of breath.

"What am I doing? What were you doing?!" Emery snapped, "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to touch a lady without her permission?!"

"You freak! F-" Before Flash could finish that statement, Emery was pulled off and away.

"Miss Stark-Whitmore! We don't tolerate violence at this school!" My chemistry teacher said, "Off to the principal's office."

"Ms. Warren, it w-" Emery tried.

"Let the principal deal with it Emery." Ms. Warren said sternly.

Emery nodded and headed to the office. She glanced back at Flash who was smirking at her and then to Peter who was looking at her in almost shock. She shook her head and kept walking. This school was nice while it lasted, Emery thought wryly.

She sat on the bench outside the office and waited for the principal, Mr. Morita, to call her in. What she didn't expect was to see Happy waltz into the office just as Mr. Morita called her in. Emery was just about to ask what he was doing here but he silenced her with a pointed finger and gestured her to enter the office before following him in as he dialed a number on the phone.

Before Mr. Morita could open his mouth, a hologram of Tony showed up, hovering over Happy's phone and her father turned to face the principal. She couldn't believe he was actually having a meeting with the principal all the way from LA. She shook her head and sat down as Happy sat down beside her.

"M-Mr. Stark. I didn't know we would be speaking today." Mr. Morita said.

"Well, I just received a phone call stating my daughter was sent to your office for inflicting bodily harm on another student. Why wouldn't I want to be present for that?" Tony snarked, "The question is, why did I get a call from a teenaged boy instead of the school?"

"My apologies sir." Mr. Morita spit out nervously, "We were made aware you were across the country and didn't want to disturb you."

"Consider me disturbed." Tony said.

"Excuse me sir?" Did my dad intimidate everyone? Emery wondered as she watched the two interact.

"A boy put his unwanted hands on my daughter and she gets in trouble for trying to defend herself?" Tony asked incredulously, "What kind of school are you running Morita?" He didn't even bother adding the connotation in front of his name.

"A good school sir."

"Then what are you going to do about the kid that harassed my daughter?" Tony demanded.

"He'll be dealt with right away sir. Sorry for the miscommunication." Mr. Morita gulped.

"I should hope so." Tony's hologram then turned his daughter who was smiling warmly at him but the smile fell as soon as she saw the stern look upon his face, "We made a deal kid."

"It wasn't my fault this time. I swear." Emery defended.

"Still, you were taught to use all other measures that didn't include putting your hands on another person. We've talked about this."

"One slip-up in two years hardly counts." She rolled her eyes, ignoring the gazes of the two other men in the room, "I didn't even hurt him."

"You could have though."

"I made sure I didn't."

"Doesn't matter."

"Of course it does! I didn't hurt anything besides his huge ass ego."

"Language!"

Emery rolled her eyes, "I learned it from you."

"You learned too much from me." He muttered.

"What's my punishment?" She sighed, knowing she wouldn't get out of this without one, "No lab privileges for a week? No gym access for two?" Those were Tony's favourite punishments.

"Join a club."

"Su-Wait, no!" Emery corrected herself as soon as she realized what her father said and looked at him with gaping eyes.

"That's it. That's what you're going to do or you'll never be allowed in the lab again."

"You're serious."

"As a heart attack."

Emery glared at him, "Don't joke about that."

"That's the deal Emery. Take it or leave it." Tony shrugged, "And make it snappy. I have someone to meet in a few minutes."

"Does Pepper know you're blackmailing me?"

"She knows it's out of love." He confirmed.

"Fine." Emery muttered and crossed her arms.

"Excellent. Have fun in whatever club you decide on. I'll send Pepper your love. End call."

His hologram disappeared into Happy's phone and Emery glared at him before standing up and stomping out of the office. She didn't care that she looked like a small child having a temper tantrum, she didn't want to join some stupid club! She pushed the office door open with so much force, it hit the person standing outside the office. He grunted and stepped away from the door as it swung closed again and Emery saw Peter.

"You phoned my dad." She snapped.

"Uh...y-yeah, I did. He said he'd answer if I text him your name before calling."

"I don't care about that! Why did you call him?!" She was angry.

"W-what Flash did wasn't right." Peter stuttered out and Emery's angry dissipated quickly, remembering why she was in the office to begin with, "He deserved what you did and you didn't deserve to get in trouble for it."

"I have a record. If you didn't call my dad I probably would have been expelled...again." Emery said and then groaned, collapsing against the wall and looking at the ceiling, "But now I have to join a stupid club."

"Uh...what?" Peter asked.

Emery tilted her head forward to look at him, "There were about a million other ways I could have gotten out of that situation and I chose the hands on approach, subsequently breaking a written contract I made with my dad. As my punishment, he's making me join a club. How ridiculous is that?! What happened to the conventional grounding?" She rambled.

"Mr. Stark isn't exactly, you know...conventional." Peter responded.

Emery couldn't help but smile at him, "That was a rhetorical question."

"S-sorry!" Peter exclaimed and then silence fell around them for a brief moment before Peter decided to break it, "I think I know a club you could join that you might not totally hate."

Emery lifted a brow, "Yeah?"

Peter nodded shyly, "I-it's the Academic Decathlon. It's kind of about being the smartest one in the room."

"Sounds interesting." Emery said, "When's the next meeting?"