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PROLOGUE

STARK AND JARVIS

1991

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FOR DECADES, EDWIN JARVIS had been serving as a butler for Howard Stark. If you had asked Edwin if he ever thought he would be where he was today, he would tell you no. When he was younger, he had hoped to be a doctor, but unfortunately his dreams did not come true. Edwin was drafted into the British Armed Forces when World War II first broke out. He had seen many horrors during his time in the army and he did not think that he would never find light in this ever growing darkness. But he did and that light was a young woman named Ana. Ana gave him hope again and he promised that they would marry when the war was over, and he kept his promise. The couple eloped immediately and they both wanted to leave the horrors of the war behind, so they decided to move to America where Edwin eventually met Howard Stark.

Edwin meeting Howard was a chance encounter. He had been at a bar after a long day of interviews-hoping he would receive a job offer-but he hadn't. He had begun to feel like a failure whom his wife did not deserve, so he decided it would be best to drown his sorrows in the company of alcohol. The bar was crowded-full of women who were looking around the bar excitedly. Edwin payed them no mind, he just assumed that there was some lad who all of these young women were fawning over. He turned his attention back to the drink in his hand, which was nearly empty. It was rather late and Edwin was trying to figure out whether or not he should get another drink when a man's voice had brought him from his thoughts.

"Long day?" Edwin turned to look at the man who had taken a seat right across from him. The man was dressed immaculately-his shirt was pressed, his suit fit him perfectly, and his shoes were shined and polished.

"Something like that," responded Edwin. He noticed the group of young women had moved closer to his table, their whispers and giggles reaching his ears. He nodded his head towards the women. "Are they with you?"

The man turned around and stared at the women for a moment. Edwin believed that the man was going to tell them off for intruding in his personal space, but what the man did shocked Edwin. He smirked at the ladies and winked in their direction. They were stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting him to notice them. But their shock soon turned to giddiness and they began to whisper and giggle amongst themselves again. The man turned back around in his chair and laughed when he saw Edwin's face.

"As you can tell, they're not with me. But one of them might be by the end of the night." The man winked at Edwin,emphasizing the innuendo. This man was truly charming, even Edwin was intrigued by him and they had only just met. The stranger took a swig from his drink and sighed. "So, whats on your mind?"

"Are you always this forward with people you've just met?"

"Of course I am. It runs in my genes you see. My father was charming and intrusive, so was my grandfather and my great-grandfather." The man went on to list his relations that he shared those traits with, but Edwin had stopped listening after he had mentioned his great-grandfather. Clearly the man had realized he had stopped listening and he studied Edwin closely. "Normally people listen to my stories, no matter how boring they might be."

Edwin laughed softly at that. "And why is that exactly?"

The man's eyes widened, a look of pure shock crossing his features. "Y-you don't know who I am?" stuttered the man.

Jarvis shook his head. "Am I supposed to, sir?"

The man's mouth opened and began to move, but no words came out. After a few moments, he shut it and took a deep breath before speaking. "I would think everyone knows who I am, even the ones across the pond like you. I'm Howard Stark, owner and CEO of Stark Industries."

"You're the one that made most of the weapons used in World War II?"

Howard looked conflicted for a moment before shaking his head. "I am. I take it you aren't a fan of my inventions."

"Some of your inventions were highly lethal and unexpected."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say next. After a while, Edwin got tired of the silence and he finally decided to answer Howard's question from earlier. "If you must know, I'm drowning my sorrows because I have yet to find a job."

Howard studied him for a moment and smiled. "That's easy, come work for me!"

Edwin sputtered. "Pardon me?"

Howard leaned back in his chair and his smile grew wider. "I need a butler, someone who can help me out around the house and with my projects. You'd be perfect for the job!"

"But sir, we've only just met-"

"See, you've even gotten down the manners! I'm not really a fan of all that sir nonsense-when it's just us call me Howard-but when I have over guests they're going to want to hear that type of stuff come out of your mouth." Edwin learned in that moment that Howard Stark loved to hear his own voice. "And I feel like I already know you! You're British-which means your posh and neat-and your name is-"

"Edwin. Edwin Jarvis."

Howard extended his hand and Edwin reached forward to shake it. "Well Jarvis, I believe this is the start to a beautiful partnership."

"If you say so, sir."

—✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*—

CHARLOTTE 'CHARLIE' JARVIS WAS destined to be friends with Anthony 'Tony' Stark. It was inevitable seeing as Charlie lived right across from Tony's house and seeing how her father had been working as Howard's butler for decades. But it still came as a shock to her when Tony preferred to spend time with her rather than the children of Howard's business partners. But she didn't mind his company, he brought more fun into her life, much to the chagrin of of Edwin and Howard.

Even though he would never admit it to her, Tony was exactly like his father. He would spend most of his nights partying and he would always bring a girl back to his house. He was reckless and uncaring, but Charlie knew there were reasons behind his behavior. He was acting out, hoping to get his father's attention. Whenever Tony spoke to Charlie about his father, his voice would grow cold and she could sense the resentment he felt towards Howard. She always tried to be supportive of Tony's views, but when it came to his relationship with his father, she didn't know what to think. She knew that Howard loved his son-she saw it every time he looked at Tony-but both Stark men were to stubborn to say they cared about each other.

Howard might have been stubborn when it came to his son, but he always made sure that Tony had people looking out for him. Most of the time it was either Charlie or their other best friend, James Rhodes, who would be on babysitting duty. Each loved to spend time with Tony, and most of the time they did it without Howard having to ask them to. The only time the older Stark man ever asked for anything from the two was when he knew Tony was going to go partying. He became anxious whenever his son would declare he was going out for the night-Howard had enemies out in the world and he didn't want one to attack Tony while he was drunk-so, he would always ask Charlie or Rhodey if they would go supervise them. And seeing as they were Tony's best friends, they couldn't just say no, which was why Charlie was currently at a party wishing she could crawl into a hole and hide.

Charlie was not the party type. She hated being crowded in one room full of sweaty, hormonal young adults who were drunk off their asses-but it was all worth it if she managed to keep Tony out of trouble.

The music was loud and obnoxious, but she couldn't help nodding her head along to the beat. She took a sip of water from her solo cup and looked around the room, eyes searching for any sign of Tony. She soon found him in the middle of the dance floor, a big smile on his face as he danced with a girl. He was currently whispering something in the girl's ear and she was clearly falling for whatever he was telling her because she was nodding her head eagerly. Tony's smile grew even wider and he left the girl there on the dance floor. He walked up to Charlie, his eyes alight with mischief.

"You know, the whole point of coming to a party is to have fun," said Tony. He leans up against the wall with Charlie and took her drink from her hand. He took a swig and grimaced at what he found. "Seriously Charlie, you're drinking water?"

"You're forgetting that one of us has to stay sober so we can get home," she pointed out. Tony sighed and handed her back her drink.

"I don't know why you even come to these things. You never have any fun. It's like your my father who's looking at me with disappointment in your eyes. You're bringing down my mood."

Charlie rolled her eyes and took a sip of water. "Wow, comparing me to your father, that's a first."

Tony sighed. He looked out at the dance floor and the girl he was just dancing with waved. "You don't think I know why you and Rhodey come to these things? I know he asked you to be here."

Charlie looked over and her brown eyes locked with his. "He does care for you," she said softly. "We all do. We're just worried. You've been partying a lot lately and you could get in some serious trouble."

Tony scoffed. "He doesn't care for me, Charlie. How many times do I have to tell you that?" He was getting angry, like he always did when he talked about his father. "He's never even told me he's loved me, never even told me he likes me. What kind of father does that? I know yours doesn't. You want to know why? Because Jarvis has actual feelings. He's been more of a father to me than my own."

Tony's eyes darted away from hers. She reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. "Are you going to be there when they leave tomorrow?"

Howard and Maria were going on a business trip to Washington DC. Nobody knew what for, not even her own father how knew everything about Howard's business endeavors. They would be gone for at least a week, but they had assured everyone that they would be back before the holidays.

Tony looked down at their interlocked hands, his thumb gently rubbing her hand. "I don't know. It depends if I get lucky tonight."

Charlie scoffed and tugged her hand from his grasp. "Is that all you ever think about?"

Tony laughed and smirked. He took a step back from her and held his arms out wide. "What can I say, it runs in my genes. I can't help what traits are passed down to me."

Charlie rolled her eyes but she couldn't help the smile that graced her features. "You're ridiculous."

"I know, but that's why you stick around."

Charlie watched as he walked back to the girl. He whispered something in her ear and they began to walk off. Charlie had no idea where they were going, but she did know what they were about to do and she wasn't too keen on following them. All she knew was that it was going to be one long night that she couldn't wait to be over.

—✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*—

THE NEXT MORNING WAS rough. Tony had passed out on the couch the night before and when his father found him, he was furious. The two had a screaming match and Howard and Maria left without saying goodbye to anyone. Charlie had watched the exchange with downcast eyes. Howard did love Tony, she knew that for a fact, but sometimes the two were just too similar and their personalities would clash which would lead to some harsh exchange of words.

Once Howard was out the door, Tony rushed up the stairs and slammed his door. Charlie and Edwin stayed in the living room, both still trying to process what exactly had just transpired.

"Well, at least is wasn't as bad as their last fight," breathed out Charlie. Her father walked over to her and kissed the top of her head.

"I suppose it wasn't."

Jarvis left the room and left Charlie to her thoughts. She would have gone up to Tony's room to see how he was doing, but she knew that he needed space to calm down. He would forget about the exchange and go back to being his playful self.

None of them knew that they would remember that day for the rest of their lives.

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A/N: I decided that I was going to rewrite the first few chapters of this book. I felt like the first chapters weren't that great and I really wanted to make you guys love this book so that was one of the main factors I rewrote it. Another was because I felt my writing was not the best, so hopefully this prologue is better. We got a little bit of the backstory about how Edwin and Howard met and a little bit of insight into Charlie and Tony's relationship. I am also planning on writing another Marvel story, but I want you all to decide who the love interest should be. Your options are: Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Thor, Carol Danvers, or Sam Wilson. Please comment who you want the love interest to be down below!Also, the faceclaim for Charlie is still going to be Caitriona Balfe. I hope you all enjoyed the newly written prologue! If you have any suggestions or feedback, please do not hesitate to comment below!

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All rights belong to Marvel, Disney, Kevin Feige, Stan Lee and any other respective owners. I only own Charlie Jarvis and any other characters I choose to create!