Snarky Stark

Tony felt so different. Being on the plane back to America was one of the greatest feelings yet also, one of the most dreadful ones as well. Being held captive for three months can really make a person think. While it sucked being stuck in a cave, he knew the real challenge would be what he had to face coming back to America. The first being to shut down his company's weapon's manufacture. The second would be much harder.

He sighed, thinking about what he would say. No matter how much he thought about it, no words could effectively bring about a suitable apology.

He wondered how Tim was. He hadn't seen him in nearly seven years. Course, he couldn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been a responsible or dependable brother. Hell, he even told Yinsen that he didn't have a family. Thinking about Yinsen brought back a feeling Tony had never really felt before. He only wished he could have thanked the good man properly. He felt the best way was to remember his dying words. "Don't waste your life."

He knew he needed to patch things up with his brother and he would do it ASAP.

But first, he had some business to take care of, starting with his sham of a company.

…

"Well, that went well." Tony muttered walking past Pepper towards the car. He'd just finished shutting his company down, amidst a mass protest but could hardly give a care. He knew there would be backlash but at least it was one sin off his list so far. The next was going to be harder.

"Tony!" Pepper followed closely behind him, huffing in frustration and panic, "Wait, maybe you can go back and- "

"Nope, done deal." He said, climbing in the car and waiting for her. In his eyes, he'd done what was needed; press handled, company shutting down.

Pepper sighed and looked toward Obi standing at the doorway and boy did he look fit to be tied. All she could do was shrug apologetically and climb in next to Tony.

"At least now you'll go to a hospital, right?" she asked, settling in.

"Nope, I'm booking my jet to New Haven." He said casually as he stared at his phone.

"New Haven? In Connecticut?" Pepper exclaimed.

Tony nodded.

"Why on earth would you go there?" Pepper asked, exasperated. He'd only been back for an hour and already her stress levels were shooting skyward.

"Yale."

"Tony, seriously, what are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm gonna pay Tim a visit." He said.

Pepper blanched, "Tony…wait…you can't go." She said, looking sad. Her eyes closed as she remembered. It hadn't been that long ago but considering she dealt with so much regarding Tony's return it was the last thing on her mind.

"Why not?" he asked her, "Is there some pressing matter that needs my attention here? Perhaps another angry press?"

She gave Happy a look and he could only stare sadly back at her through the rearview mirror.

"Seriously, am I the only one who's excited for a trip to Yale?" Tony asked, wanting to strangle someone at this point.

"Tony…I was going to wait to tell you…" she said trying to find words. "Tim and his wife, Anna…they died a couple of weeks ago." She finally said.

It was Tony's turn to blanch. Happy started driving quickly to avoid the awkwardness.

"What happened?" Tony asked, feeling a sudden sense of guilt and emptiness.

"It was a car accident. They were killed instantly." She said calmly, "Tony, I'm so sorry." She was tempted to hold his hand but didn't feel he needed that now. He sat back, still in shock. He took a breath then as quick as rain got back to his usual business-like self, "When's the funeral, we should attend."

"It was last week." She said, avoiding his eyes.

"Great, no one wanted to wait for me. Even in death I'm still not invited to his shindigs." He grumbled. Pepper knew this was Tony's way of grieving, but she needed to tell him before he just rushed off to do the next harebrained thing.

"There's something else." She said.

"Great. Someone else I should know about who had a funeral maybe last year?" he asked nastily.

"Tony…" she warned.

He rolled his eyes but managed to stay quiet, so she could finish.

"Your niece is on her way here."

"I have a niece?" he looked stunned, "Since when?"

Pepper felt she could gladly return the attitude, "Well…she's only seven, so…"

"Ha-ha." Tony said, slumping back in his seat, "So why is she coming here?" he asked.

"You're her only guardian. Her mom didn't have a family, or at least that's what I was told. You were in the will."

"Wow, my brother did have a heart. Or maybe not." Tony grumbled.

Pepper sighed, "To be honest, I hesitated even telling them that you were back. But they said she was in a foster home and wasn't doing well…I figured…at least you're her family and- "

"I only just got back! Couldn't you have mentioned this sooner?" he sighed, his head in his hand in exasperation. This was the last thing he wanted; a dead brother and a kid in his care.

"I'm sorry but, she was really struggling, and they were relieved to hear you were home. I couldn't say no." She explained

Tony finally looked her in the eye, "Is she hurt?"

"No, but Tony, she just lost her parents and almost lost her uncle."

He nodded, "Ok, so we have an orphan on her way here and I'm practically public enemy number one. Can my day get any worse?"

Pepper looked up, "I sold one of your cars."

Tony was about to shout until he saw her grin.

"Gotcha." That will teach him to get snarky with her.

…

Tony had never been happier to be home. He walked in only to find a nauseating display of flowers covering his living room. He rolled his eyes. Yeah nothing says "sorry you were kidnapped and tortured, glad you're home" like flowers. He walked around and was even more relieved to hear his favorite voice come on.

"Welcome back, sir. It is wonderful to have you home."

"Hey Jarvis. Missed you too." He said.

"I have received many files regarding Miss Stark. Shall I store them in our home network?"

"Sounds good." Tony shrugged. Jeez, even his freaking house was aware of his niece coming by.

He didn't even know where to put her. His guest rooms weren't exactly kid friendly. He decided to see if at least one of them looked decent enough.

He walked past the kitchen towards the main floor guest room but paused when he turned on the light; The room had been repainted and redecorated.

"Jarvis, who broke into my house?!" he practically roared.

"I have no record of a break in, sir."

"Then why is my guest room the color of a peach?"

"Miss Potts organized a redecorating for your niece's arrival."

"How did she even know about my niece coming here before today?"

"She's known for some time and wanted to be prepared. She was sure you'd be found sir. And you were, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yeah…guess I was." Tony mumbled, impressed at Pepper's devotion.

He looked around the guest room and had to admit that Pepper had taste; of course, that is one of the reasons he hired her. The walls were a bright peach color and looked gorgeous as the sunset through the wall-sized window came through. The furniture was kid-sized and white and there was plenty of room for toys and clothes. Even the connecting bathroom had been redone for a kid with a butterfly theme.

He shook his head, smiling as he closed the door.

He felt bored waiting around and paced his whole house, wanting like hell to get started on his new project but also wanting to be ready for his niece to come. He'd concluded that just because his brother died before he could apologize didn't mean he couldn't make it up to his kid.

He was on his seventh lap walking around the couch when Jarvis spoke, "Sir, Miss Potts has arrived with Children Services."

"Show time." Tony grumbled, turning towards the walkway. He looked at the clock and realized it was 8pm. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to sleep, or work…or do anything but this.

"Tony?" Pepper's voice came in through the front.

Tony watched as Pepper came in with a nicely dressed woman carrying a briefcase and holding the hand of his seven-year-old niece.

He could tell she was exhausted but the minute he laid eyes on her there was no mistaking that she was a Stark. Her hair was the exact same shade of brown he and his brother were known for, only hers was thin and fell messily to her shoulders. She was a tiny thing, skinny, and pale. Tony figured it was just from all the chaos from the last few weeks and couldn't blame her. He could hardly see her face as she stared at the floor, her hair covering her eyes.

"Sadie," the lady holding her had said, softly, "This is Mr. Tony Stark, your father's brother."

Tony waited with almost bated breath, though he didn't know why, as she finally looked up at him. He did a double take as the biggest, most gorgeous brown eyes he'd ever seen met his. He didn't recall Tim nor Anna having brown eyes but either way, there was no doubting she took after the Stark family in appearance. He managed to tear his eyes away for a moment to notice how sunken she appeared, with dark circles underneath her eye that signified her experience. He had a feeling, like him, that she'd had a lot to endure in the past two weeks.

"Mr. Stark?" The lady said quietly, interrupting his thoughts.

He finally managed to take his eyes off his rather adorable niece for a minute to walk forward and shake her hand.

"I'm Lizzie McKinley, I work for Children Services. It's good to meet you."

"Thanks." Tony nodded. The lady was young, not his type really, but she had a kind face at least.

"Sadie did very well during her trip here, her caseworker, Ms. Heller, couldn't bring her but plans to stop by in the next couple of weeks to be sure she's settling in."

Tony nodded, but had to wonder why, "I thought that since I'm her family…we didn't need that kind of thing."

Lizzie merely smiled, "There's a lot to do before an adoption could be considered. Home inspections, interviews, court appearances. It's quite a process, even for families, to get custody of a child.

Tony almost told the lady to take the kid and go, why on earth would they even bother him about taking her if it took all that time and energy just to keep her? Not to mention he had to think about school and a million other things kids required.

As he thought that, however, he snuck another glance at Sadie and could tell that she needed him. He sucked as a brother, a son, and hell, as a friend, but maybe he could turn out to be a pretty decent uncle. And besides, he had money and Pepper. He could make it work. At least he hoped he could.

"We will certainly do our best to abide with Children Services." Pepper finally broke in.

Tony nodded with a half grin and noticed Sadie relaxed for just a moment but still looked sickly. "Wonderful, I have no doubt she'll be fine. Call us if you need anything." Lizzie smiled and then turned to Sadie, "You be good, okay?"

Sadie nodded weakly and let go of the woman's hand who walked towards the front where Pepper led her out and continued a professional conversation that Tony could care less about. However now that they had walked away, he was left alone with his niece in a quiet living room and no way of knowing how to even talk to her.

He finally managed to meet Sadie's eyes and noticed she too was looking him over with curiosity. She cocked her head to the side slightly and Tony found he was mimicking her.

They were silent for a while longer and she began to take in his house, looking around nervously, but never once left her spot.

She fidgeted with something in her hands and he noticed that it was a brown stuffed bear with a pink bow on it.

"Nice bear. What's his name?" he asked, hoping these were the questions kids liked.

She jumped a little and stared at him, not even opening her mouth to speak.

He tried again, "It's Sadie, right?" he hoped she'd at least make a sound.

She just stood there and nodded before looking around again.

Tony was about to give up when she coughed suddenly, it sounded painful and almost wheezy.

"You okay? You need some water?" he asked her, praying that at least she would say one little thing.

She shook her head and resumed looking around once more.

He prayed for patience and finally just followed her lead, looking around. As he did he realized he hadn't realized that someone had neglected to clean his rooftop windows.

He blew out an exasperated sigh, realizing how epically he'd failed to even get his niece to work when she finally muttered something quietly.

He looked at her, but she avoided his eyes, "Sorry?" he asked.

"Water?" she asked quickly.

"Oh!" he sputtered, "Yeah, this way." He told her, leading the way to the kitchen. He wasn't sure if she had followed him or not but was relieved when he turned around and she was indeed following. He took a minute to reassess where his glasses were and opened the first cupboard he saw, cursing it was not even remotely close to what he wanted.

Pepper came back, giving him a weird look.

He merely returned it, "I'm just getting Sadie a glass of water."

Pepper rolled her eyes and pointed to the cupboard across the kitchen that held glasses.

He quickly walked to it and went to work getting her some water.

Pepper came over then and smiled down at Sadie, "Your room is just over there, sweetie, close to the kitchen, so don't hesitate to find a snack or get a drink at any time."

Tony was also glad her room was close to the kitchen. He didn't have to worry about her getting up at night trying to find food or bothering him in the process.

He handed her the water and Happy came in carrying some luggage. He smiled kindly at Sadie before turning to them, "Where should I put these?" he asked.

"You can put them in her room." Pepper responded, leading the way. Sadie drank a sip of water and then placed it carefully on the counter before following. At least she seemed comfortable.

"Here it is! I hope you like it." Pepper told her with a smile. Sadie walked in and looked around.

"This bathroom is all yours, the windows can tint if it's too bright, and I made sure to include a nightlight in case you need it."

"She knows about Jarvis?" Tony asked her.

"Who?" Sadie asked with a puzzled expression.

"Jarvis runs the house," Pepper explained, "He'll help you with anything you may need."

Sadie walked in and Pepper went to a glass nightstand by her bed and quickly pressed it. Much like Tony's lab, she'd made sure to give Sadie access to things in the house.

"If you need help at all, you can press this, and Jarvis will find Tony for you." Pepper explained.

Sadie fiddled for a minute with it and nodded in understanding.

"I made sure to give you a code to anywhere in the house if you need anything." Pepper continued.

"What is her code?" Tony asked.

"BEAR" Pepper said.

"Gotcha. Should be simple. You can spell right?" he asked Sadie.

She glared at him, confirming his belief that eyes could indeed kill.

"I also have my contact information in the system, so you can call me anytime, anywhere." Pepper told her quickly, ignoring the obvious awkwardness between the two.

Happy clapped his hands in finality and looked at all of them, "You need anything else?" he asked.

"The moving company will bring the rest of her things tomorrow afternoon." Pepper said, "So we'll need some help with that."

"Sure thing. Night everyone." He called, leaving, making sure to wave to Sadie who waved back shyly.

"Any questions, Sadie? I know you're probably tired." Pepper asked.

Sadie stood there for a minute, holding her water, but merely shrugged her shoulders, looking down.

"Right, well, holler if you need anything." Tony said, leaving quickly, hoping this endeavor was over for now. Pepper seemed like she had it under control.

As he walked away he heard Pepper speaking quietly to Sadie in the calmest voice ever. To be honest, Pepper would always be better at making sure things were okay in his life, it only made sense she was good at this.

After today, Tony had learned a lot; he had a way of making people mad at him, he always failed his brother, kids were not his thing, and that cheeseburgers always made him feel better.