It Runs in the Family, Prologue
Author: dettiot
Rating: T for now
Summary: Felicity Stark is the best of her parents. But becoming vice-president of a brand-new division of Stark Industries and moving to Starling City will test her in ways she never thought possible. Especially when a masked vigilante in green leather crosses her path. An Arrow/Iron Man crossover.
Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, Iron Man or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: This fic started with a gifset made by the amazing ginevra-red on Tumblr. When I saw it, I got inspired and with ginevra's permission, I started work on this fic. I've never written crossover fic or worked with the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters before, so I'm a little nervous. I hope you enjoy how I've mashed up the two very different comics universes!

Many thanks to mersayseh for the beta, sarahtwinkie for her first read, and youguysimserious for the very important title help. There might be a bit of a delay before the next part comes out, but I wanted to take advantage of the release of the Avengers: Age of Ultron as well as the end of Arrow season 3. Thanks for reading!

XXX

"Good morning, Miss Stark. Your mother asked me to wake you now."

Groaning, Felicity Stark rolled over in bed, pushing some of her blonde hair out of her face. "Why? And what time is it, JARVIS?"

"You would have to ask Mrs. Stark about her reasons. And it is eight-thirty, Miss Stark." The disembodied voice of JARVIS managed to sound discreet and apologetic all at once. Not bad for an AI originally programmed over thirty years ago.

But after all, her dad was a genius.

Throwing back the covers, Felicity sat up, only to flop back down.

In response, JARVIS removed the tinting from the smart windows, letting bright sunshine fall over her bed. He also turned on three different video windows, one of them featuring the grating voice of KTLA's morning anchor, Tiffany Trent.

"The business world is whipping itself into a frenzy this morning, in preparation for today's Stark Industries press conference. Tony Stark is expected to make a major announcement about the future of the company-a future rumored to be in the hands of his daughter, Felicity Stark. The beautiful graduate of MIT has been working at her father's company for the past six months and-"

"Mute, JARVIS, mute!" Felicity whined, pushing herself up. "I'm up, I'm up. Just stop her."

Glaring a little at the silenced image of Tiffany-who had been Felicity's nemesis since they were eight and Tiffany went by Tiffy-Felicity climbed out of bed, her bare feet padding against the floor as she left her room.

As she walked through the house towards the kitchen, Felicity rubbed her eyes. Considering she had gone to bed less than five hours earlier, she felt relatively awake. A couple of cups of coffee and she'd be good.

That is, if her mother didn't have anything to say about it.

Stepping into the kitchen, Felicity spotted her mother sitting at the island, ankles crossed, hair back in a perfect ponytail as she sipped some tea. Without looking up from the three newspapers spread in front of her, her mother spoke. "What time did you go to bed?"

"Around three-thirty. Ish," Felicity said, making a beeline for the coffeemaker. "I remembered the rule."

Pepper Potts-Stark, CEO of Stark Industries and one of the most powerful women on the West Coast, if not the country, gave Felicity a soft smile. "Four hours before flashbulbs," she said, referring to the family rule that before any planned press interaction, four hours of sleep was the bare minimum.

"Yep," Felicity said, slurping down her coffee as she watched her mother. "I had to stop right in the middle of something. Dad's gonna be very annoyed. Well, annoyed until he gets distracted by just what I've discovered and then he'll start talking about how to better optimize the transfer rates and-"

"Felicity," her mother said, smiling softly. "There is no way your father would be annoyed with you. Especially not today."

Shuffling her feet, Felicity smiled a little. "He's pretty proud, isn't he?"

"We both are," Pepper said, standing up and walking over to Felicity. "Although I want to remind you that with the new position, you're going to have to stop with your student habits. No more staying up all night to code, all right?" Pepper paused, then broke out her mischievous grin. "At least not every night."

Felicity grinned back. "Thanks, Mom." She hugged Pepper tightly, closing her eyes as the fragrance that said 'Mom' surrounded her-freesia, citrus, and tea.

Pulling back, Felicity finished the coffee in her mug. "Where's Dad?" she asked, putting some bread in the toaster.

"In his lab, I think," Pepper said, tidying up her newspaper and carrying her own mug over to the sink. "I need to get into the office and prep for this afternoon. JARVIS is under orders to lock you both out of everything at noon, so you have time to get ready for the press conference."

"You know, Mom, I'm twenty-one now. I don't think I need an electronic babysitter anymore. And between the two of us, Dad and I could override JARVIS," Felicity said, leaning back against the counter.

"Really?" her mother asked, one strawberry-blonde eyebrow arching.

Uh-oh. Felicity put on a big smile. "I shouldn't be using JARVIS as a crutch. And you're right, I do need to be more responsible with my new position."

Pepper eyed her, then grinned back. "Nice try, sweetheart. But you are too much your father's daughter."

Felicity knew her mom was proud of her accomplishments and glad that she took after her dad. But Felicity knew she was also her mother's daughter, too. Reaching out, Felicity grabbed Pepper's hand. "You know, Starling City is practically a rainforest. I'm going to need to overhaul my wardrobe. You want to help me with that this weekend?"

With a happy smile, Pepper nodded. "I'd love to." She pressed a kiss to Felicity's cheek. "Have a piece of fruit and some yogurt with your toast, okay? I'll see you and your father at the office."

"Two o'clock. We'll be there," Felicity said, heading toward the fridge and pulling out the yogurt and some blueberries. "Granola, I need granola," Felicity muttered, only for a bag to appear at her elbow.

"Thanks, Mom!" she called to Pepper as her mother left the kitchen, her heels clicking against the tiles.

Smiling, Felicity finished preparing her breakfast, her mind starting to come fully awake. And that meant she could once again start getting nervous.

Because being named vice-president of the new Advanced Technologies division of Stark Industries, leading the development of a R&D complex in northern California, and figuring out how to manufacture the groundbreaking CPU she had developed? It was a lot to take on. And even though her last name was Stark, she was still a twenty-one-year-old blonde who liked dresses and bright nail polish.

That made Felicity check her nails, sighing in relief that her gel manicure was holding up.

Taking a seat at the island, Felicity swiveled a little on her stool as she ate her breakfast and though over her day. She would do some work with her dad before they headed over to the office for the press conference. Tonight she was meeting her friend Caitlin for drinks, since she was in town for a medical conference.

And somewhere in there she should fit in a workout, Felicity admitted guiltily. If her mom could get up at five every day to get some exercise, Felicity could spare a half hour for a go on the elliptical and some crunches.

After all, that was the responsible, adult thing to do-those were the exact words she'd use when she told her mother, Felicity thought with a grin. So after she put her breakfast dishes in the sink, she carried a fresh mug of coffee to her room so she could change.

XXX

Exercised and showered, dressed in yoga pants and a cashmere sweater, Felicity took the stairs to the basement-her favorite part of the house, really. Because it felt like it was the heart of her home, the center. Because the basement was where her dad's lab was located.

She tapped in her code and pulled open the door, immediately assaulted with AC/DC. That meant Dad was in a good mood. Or he was trying to annoy Captain Rogers or Director Coulson. Or both.

According to her uncle Steve, her dad had been doing that for as long as they had known each other. "He got the idea I don't like stadium rock," Steve had said with a smirk.

Felicity counted herself lucky to know that Steve Rogers had a pronounced sassy streak to him-and that her father had no idea about it.

"Dad?" she called out, not seeing Tony in the front part of the lab. JARVIS lowered the volume of the music and Felicity grinned as she called for her father again.

"Back here!"

Her flip-flops slapped against the floor as she moved deeper into the lab, finding her father in the middle of his pre-vis area.

"Hi," she said, leaning through the blue holograms to kiss his cheek. "What's all this?" she asked, taking in the wireframe of his Iron Man suit.

"Complete overhaul of the suit, using your processor," he said distractedly. "Wanna see what happens."

Her cheeks flushed as she took in what was going on. Tony Stark was one of the smartest people on the planet. Even when grading on the curve that there weren't just humans on Earth now, her father was a genius. And here he was, using her invention to make his suit better.

Sometimes she couldn't believe that this was her life.

"How's it going?" she asked, sipping her coffee and running her eyes over the wireframe, all while trying not to bounce up and down with excitement.

"Initial calculations suggest a twenty-four percent improvement in computing efficiency is achievable," JARVIS said.

"Bet we can get it up to thirty," Tony said, manipulating the wireframe. "But I'd need you here for that."

And there it was. Felicity smiled a little, even as she held back her sigh. "Dad, you don't need me for this."

"I disagree," he said, turning on his stool to look at her. "One genius isn't enough-this needs two."

"Then call Bruce," Felicity said. "You know he's always wanted to investigate ways to improve the suit's biomechanics."

Tony scoffed. "Yeah, sure. Biomechanics, right."

"This is going to be good for me," Felicity said, grabbing a stool and pulling it over. "and good for the company, too."

"I don't see why we need to set up shop in Starling. Let Merlyn and Queen fight over the scraps up there," Tony grumbled.

"That's the whole point, Dad. It's the perfect environment for Stark Industries-we'll be able to scoop up the best people from Merlyn Global and Queen Consolidated and probably knock at least one of them off the map." Felicity paused and wrinkled her nose. "I hope it's Merlyn Global. Malcolm Merlyn is creepy and Tommy Merlyn tried to hit on me when I was fifteen."

Her father frowned. "Why wasn't I or one of your several superpowered uncles around to take care of him?"

With a snort, Felicity leaned in and kissed his cheek again. "Because I took care of him, thanks to the training from Mom and my non-superpowered aunts."

Her father tilted his head to the side, then nodded. "So he'll never try that again."

"So far, so good," Felicity said with a grin. "Not that I've crossed paths with Tommy Merlyn for a long time."

Standing up, she took a sip of coffee and went to the computer on the workbench, taking a closer look at the schematics. "Dad, why don't we try this?" she said, setting her coffee down so she could make some changes to the code.

Tony watched what she was doing, and without her having to explain, he started making his own adjustments, following her lead.

As she got lost in the coding-and the thrill of working with her father like this-Felicity felt a pang. Even though she was excited about the move to Starling City, there was also trepidation. Because it was one thing to go off to MIT, which was her dad's alma mater and a place she had visited her whole life. But moving to Starling, running a new division on her own . . . it was like she was really leaving home. She was officially an adult and that was weird.

And she'd miss seeing her parents every day, going out with her friends, even getting her morning latte at her favorite Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. In Los Angeles, everyone knew who she was-and they knew who her parents were. In Starling City, she would be starting over. Having to get used to a new city, new people, new paparazzi. It was a little bit daunting.

But like she told her father, it would be good for her. These last six months living at home had been great, but Felicity wanted to test herself. Wanted to live her own life. She knew the kind of rude awakening her father had received when he had been forced out of his uber-rich bubble. She wanted to be better prepared.

Although Felicity didn't know if there was any way to prepare for being kidnapped by Middle East warlords, living with shards of metal in your pericardial sac, and relying on a car battery to keep you alive, all while you built an armored suit to make your escape under the guise of pretending to make weapons for said warlords.

That was how she was different from her father, though. Because Felicity was pretty sure she couldn't have done a tenth of what her father had done.

"Okay, princess, let's run it."

Giving her father a smile, hiding the direction of her thoughts, Felicity implemented the code, watching as the supercomputers updated the wireframe. Then, JARVIS's voice came out of the speakers, a tinge of pride infusing his words.

"Mark 132 suit now operating at one hundred and twenty-seven percent efficiency."

Felicity smiled widely and looked at Tony. "You did it, Dad."

"No, you did it," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Don't mind me when I'm selfish and wish you'd never really leave, Felicity."

Closing her eyes, she leaned against him for a moment. "Thanks, Dad."

He kissed her hair again and then grimaced. "Your hair's like straw. Blondes don't really have more fun, you know."

"And you would know," Felicity replied tartly. "I like being a blonde."

Tony rolled his eyes. "What time is it? Your mother has been making twelve percent threats for the last week if either of us are late today."

'Twelve percent' was some joke her parents had, one that neither of them have ever explained to her. Felicity smiled a little at another sign of her parents' love, then swiveled to check the display on the computer. "We've still got a half hour before we need to start getting ready. We could keep working . . . or we could blow Mom's mind and show up early. Just to stay unpredictable."

"Genius. I love it. Go gild the lily by getting more gorgeous," her father said, making her blush. "Meet you by the front door in a half hour."

With a nod, Felicity left the lab, heading back to her room. Once she was out of earshot, she said softly, "JARVIS? Please lock Dad out of his computers in ten minutes."

"I had already planned to do so, Miss Stark." If it was possible for a computer to sound amused, JARVIS was very amused.

And that made Felicity laugh the whole time she was getting ready.

XXX

What was she doing here? Felicity couldn't help fidgeting as she waited to make her entrance. She could faintly hear the buzz from the auditorium, from the journalists and reporters eagerly awaiting the big news.

They didn't know that the new vice-president of Stark Industries felt like an imposter.

It was one thing to work with her dad, to stay buried in a lab tinkering with her processor. That was easy. But running the lab? Being in charge? That wasn't something Felicity was good at. Since it took tact and public speaking, and Felicity Stark wasn't good at either of those things.

Smoothing her clammy hands against her purple dress, Felicity resisted the urge to fuss with her hair, but only barely. And why had she worn her glasses today? She had wanted to look serious, professional, capable. But she probably looked like a nerd. A big, socially awkward nerd who was about to fail big-time.

Felicity twisted her brass rat around her finger and took a deep breath. Calm, she had to stay calm. She closed her eyes, running through the exercises she had learned as a pre-teen to handle her racing thoughts. Most of the time, breathing and simple meditation was enough to give her some control. To let her focus and deal with her nerves and anxiety.

It wasn't helping much today, but at least she wasn't continuing to spiral deeper into her freak-out. Slowly, she found a way to balance out her nerves, just in time for the company's head of PR to stick her head into the room and smile at Felicity. "Showtime, Miss Stark."

"Thanks, Amelia," Felicity said, quickly checking her lipstick and smoothing down her dress again.

"You look perfect," Amelia said, giving her a wink. "But then, you've always taken after your mother more than your father when it comes to publicity."

Because Felicity had known Amelia her whole life, she could laugh a little and nod. "Yeah, pretty much," she said, following Amelia onto the small stage that had been set up in the lobby of Stark Industries' headquarters. She was alone for only a moment-although it was definitely long enough to feel all the reporters' eyes on her, long enough for Felicity to feel like she was standing there in her underwear-and then her parents were stepping up to the stage and flashbulbs were going off like crazy.

Pepper and Tony flanked her for a moment, then her dad patted Felicity's back and moved to the podium. Still smiling, Felicity spoke to her mother through her teeth . "He doesn't have cards."

"You know your father," Pepper said, mimicking Felicity's speaking technique. "But he's not going to screw this up. He wants this to work out for you. Because he's so proud of you-we both are, sweetheart."

That made her smile feel all trembly. Because she did know that they were proud of her. They were both excited for her.

And both of them would miss her.

Reaching out, Felicity wrapped her fingers around her mother's. She was sure Amelia was going to freak out about it, but Felicity didn't care. She wanted to hold her mom's hand for a minute.

After a few moments of standing silently at the podium and mugging for the cameras, her father leaned forward into the mike. "Okay, let's get this show on the road Because that's what is going to happen for Stark Industries. We're going on the road. Next month, we're opening up a new division of Stark Industries, the Advanced Technologies Division. In Starling City."

There were a few murmurs, a few lifted eyebrows, but the crowd mostly was silent. Given her dad's history with press conferences, it was probably good that no one was feeding his showman tendencies.

"Once we're up and running in six months-" Felicity had silently and secretly vowed to have the division running in four- "the Advanced Technologies Division will be manufacturing a groundbreaking computer processor chip, one that looks at Moore's law, laughs, and says, 'that's cute'," Tony continued.

That drew more of a ripple, but probably because people are asking each other what Moore's law was. Tony ignored it and kept going. "This processor will not only change Stark Industries, it will change the world. So it's only fitting that its creator will be overseeing the manufacturing. Ladies and gentlemen, the new vice president in charge of Advanced Technologies, and the future of Stark Industries: my daughter, Felicity Stark."

The camera flashes started going off like strobe lights. Felicity was glad now for her glasses, because they helped hide how she was squinting. Letting go of her mother's hand, Felicity stepped forward, wearing her best attempt at Pepper's calm, unruffled smile.

She was pretty sure it looked more like a grimace, but no one seemed to care. Joining her father, who looked amused by it all, Felicity stood by his side at the podium and gave a little wave. That set off the flashes again, and she was grateful when they come to a sudden stop.

"Thank you, Dad," she said, speaking into the mic and trying to remember to enunciate. "I'm so excited to be taking my place here, at the company founded by my grandfather and further grown by my mother and father. This new role is one that I . . ."

No one was looking at her. Oh, sure, the cameras were still pointed at her but everyone-the reporters, the assembled SI staff, and even her dad-were all looking at their phones, thumbing their screens or making calls.

Felicity didn't understand. What was going on? Had she failed already?

Covering the mike with her hand, she leaned over towards Tony. "Dad, what's going on?"

He blew out a breath. "Looks like we just got trumped, princess."

She was ready to ask what he was talking about, when he turned his phone towards her. And there, on the holographic screen, was the reason no one was paying attention to her anymore.

Because a good little rich girl was definitely less interesting than a bad little rich boy who had just returned from the dead.

"Oliver Queen is alive?" Felicity asked in shock, reading the headline out loud.

End, Prologue