Graduation was finally coming in a week, and you couldn't be more excited. Not only would you be free of high school, but your 18th birthday was just days away. It meant that you could finally make your own decisions about your future, make decisions that actually meant something to you, and right now the entire world was open. Despite the freedom of choice, you knew what your path would be; your dream of becoming a Broadway performer had been a lifelong one. Living in Malibu made it incredibly difficult to pursue, but your plan was to move to New York once graduation and the following festivities had been completed.

It would be far easier to move across the country than it was going to be telling your father about the plan. Your father was Tony Stark. He was against your career path from the first mention of it several years ago. Your wit and intelligence matched his, and he had aspirations that you would work for Stark Enterprises and one day, takeover the company as successor. It was true, you had an interest and natural ability in physics, and once he had introduced you to Dr. Banner, bio-organics had caught your attention. But they weren't your passion. You didn't feel them in your soul like you did when you performed for a crowd and heard their applause resonate thru you.

Today was going to be the day you finally told him. As you drove from your mother's house to his, you tried to formulate a speech that would grab his heart and allow you to go your own way. Your efforts failed and all you could do was hope that you could form any coherent sentence thru the anxiety raging inside you. Intelligence wasn't the only trait you had inherited from him.

You hadn't even reached the doorway when JARVIS greeted you.

"Hello, Miss (Y/N). It is a pleasure to see you again. Your father is in the garage, and is anticipating your arrival."

"Thanks, J."

You opened the front door to a barrage of rock music and sounds of drilling, and smiled at the familiarity of your childhood memories of watching your father work. Living with your mother had left you with weekends and holidays with him, but he was always sure to overload your times together with fun, learning and adventure. The suits were off-limits, of course, but you never gave up hope of getting your own, even now as you admired his growing collection.

"Hey, pops. Whatcha working on?"

Tony looked up from his current project as you entered, dropping his tools and bouncing up to grab you in a tight hug. "It's about time you showed up! What, did you forget the way?"

"We said two o'clock, remember?" You smirked as you pulled back from the embrace, "you know, they say that hearing is one of the first things to go when you get old."

"Watch it, punk. I've got one more week to ground you if you cross me."

"Empty threats don't scare me." You took a deep breath and sat next to his workstation, grabbing a small tool to keep your hands occupied as you tried to quiet your nerves. "So, dad, I came over here to talk to you about something."

"Yep, I remember." He sat back down and began to work again, but kept his primary focus on you. "JARVIS, cut the soundtrack." The music went silent, and the sounds of your breathing and your rapidly increasing heartbeat grew deafening in your ears.

"Ok, so as you know, graduation is on Friday." You could feel pangs of nausea growing in your stomach. "I've already talked to mom, and...and..."

Tony had continued to work as you spoke, but now as you faltered his attention was fully on you. "And?"

"And...I'm moving to New York on Saturday."

"Like hell." He dismissed you quickly, returning his focus to his project, not taking what you had said seriously.

"Excuse me? I'll be an adult, and I think this is my decision."

"Wait a damn minute. Is this about Broadway again? Is that what this is?" You jumped as he threw his tools down angrily on the table and stood to tower above you with as much authority as he could. "You are too smart and too talented to waste yourself on a path that has almost no likelihood for success. People who try to make it fail in droves. You have a future here, one that you know will get you to the top faster than anyone your age. What the hell are you thinking, (Y/N)?"

Now furious, you stood and pushed him back with both hands against his chest. "I guess I thought that I had a father who loved and trusted me."

"I do love you, and I do trust you, but this idea of yours is just plain stupid."

He had never spoken to you like that, much less called you stupid. You had no more words for him; he didn't deserve them anyway. You stormed out, not looking back, and not caring if you never saw that man again.

~~~

"Oh, sweetheart, you look gorgeous. Are you nervous?"

"Thanks, mom." She was standing behind you as you finished your makeup and looked at her in the mirror. "I'm a little nervous, but that's to be expected on opening night, right?"

She bent down to place a kiss on your cheek, careful to not leave a lipstick mark behind. "I'm so proud of you." Her expression shifted to a cautious one as she asked the question you had been waiting for all night. "Have you called him?"

With a sigh, you closed your eyes and remembered how things were left with your father. "I think I've started about a hundred texts and avoided calling more times than I can count. I just can't do it. I haven't contacted him at all since the day I stormed out on him. He probably doesn't even want to talk to me anyway."

"No, it broke him when you left, (Y/N). He actually asked me for advice, if that tells you anything." She paused as she put the final pin in your hair. "He lives here in New York now, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

A loud knock on the door alerted you that it was almost show time. "Ok, that's five minutes, mom. You better go get into your seat."

"Okay!" She said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "I'll wave!"

"Mom, I can't wave back," you laughed as you rolled your eyes at her. "Just go."

She opened the door to leave but was stopped in her tracks. You heard a small gasp and turned to see what happened, only to find your father standing in front of her. They exchanged a few words that were too quiet for you to hear, then he pulled her into a brief hug and kissed her cheek as she left. You hadn't seen them make contact in any way since you were a child, and it brought tears to your eyes.

"Hey, baby." As he stepped closer, slowly, he pulled a dozen red roses from behind his back. "These are for you. Um...I just thought that...I mean...it's opening night so I thought...flowers would be..."

His attempt at making any sense was cut off as you jumped forward, throwing your arms around him. The roses fell to the floor as he tightly held you, lifting you off the ground. You hadn't realized just how much you missed him until this moment. All the anger and resentment that you had held onto for the past five years was gone.

"Oh my god, you're really here."

He gently set you back down, standing back to admire you. "I wouldn't miss this for anything. You look amazing, honey. I'm just so proud of you." Tony leaned forward to kiss your forehead, pausing there for a moment. "I was so wrong, (Y/N). I'm sorry. I love you and I just want you to do what makes you happy."

Another loud knock on the door meant it was time to go. "I love you too, dad. It's time to go though, so you better go get into your seat."

"Ok, I'll wave!"

You paused, shocked that both of your parents were treating this like a kindergarten play. "Seriously, I can't wave back, you know!"

"Yeah, okay," He rushed out the door, mumbling under his breath, "but try telling that to the ten obnoxious superheroes sitting in the back row." 

Part 2

It had become a monthly outing for the Avengers, taking a night off from the superhero life to attend one of your shows with Tony. The night would normally end with the group shutting down a local bar, Steve taking you home because he was the only sober one left, and getting a text from your dad that the group had made it back to the tower without anyone getting arrested, again.

"Thanks for the walk home, Steve. Can you make sure dad doesn't fall asleep in the tub again, please? I don't think he wants his legacy to read that Iron Man was lost taking a bath."

"You got it. Have a good night, (Y/N)." Steve gave you a small kiss on your cheek and pulled your door shut, waiting to hear the click of the lock before he walked away.

"Another late night, I see?"

You were much too tired to deal with this tonight, too tired to deal with your boyfriend and his jealous whining about your friendship with the team. You had invited him to come along several times, but he always declined, finding some reason to stay home but never allowing you to really enjoy yourself without wondering what was waiting for you at home.

"Yeah, I'm heading to bed. I've got early rehearsals tomorrow." You turned to head for your room, but he grabbed your arm with enough force to make you wince. He spun you to look at him, his face close to yours as he spoke with a menacing tone.

"You know, I'm getting really sick of you spending so much time with that Steve guy. Why does he always walk you home? Seems like maybe he's taken too much of an interest in you. Is there something going on there that I should know about?"

Despite your better judgment, you laughed openly at the thought of you and Steve together. It was absurd, not to mention that your dad would drop dead before he would allow that. "You're crazy. Cap's just a friend of mine, and a friend of dad's. He doesn't want me walking home alone at night." You yanked your arm away from his grip, but he reacted and took your wrist, bending it back until tears formed in your eyes.

"Are you laughing at me, (Y/N)?"

"You might want to re-think what you're doing." You straightened to look him square in the face, trying your best to stay calm even though your nerves were raging inside you. This wasn't the first time you had been in this position with him, and deep down, you knew it wouldn't be the last.

His hand raised to send a resounding slap across your face, but you refused to give him the satisfaction of a response. "What? Are you gonna run to Steve now? Are you gonna run to your daddy?"

"No," you whispered, reaching your free hand up to feel the heat building in your cheek from where he connected. "I'm going to bed." You were too tired to have any fight left in you today, and decided it best to just try to walk away. Your quick refusal to engage surprised him, and he released you without another word. You had learned long ago that he was out for a reaction, looking to dominate and see that he was scaring you.

Unbeknownst to you, Steve was standing on the other side of the door, trying to understand what he thought he may have heard.

~~~

"Stark, we need to talk. I think I may have heard something at (Y/N)'s apartment last night, but I'm not sure."

Tony looked up with a smirk as Steve entered the lab, still a bit hung over from the experience the night before. His music was playing much quieter throughout the room than usual, and his work was carelessly strewn across the table.

"Yeah, well, she doesn't believe me that the acoustics in her shower are crap, but she insists on going for show-quality karaoke."

"No," Steve approached him cautiously, unsure of how to bring this up without causing an immediate panic, "it's not that." He began to pace in front of the workstation, looking at his feet as they shuffled across the floor with a heavy burden in his steps. "And I may be wrong...I mean, I was on the other side of the door...but I'm pretty sure..."

With a loud huff, Tony dropped his tools on the table and rested his hands on his hips. "Good god man, spit it out."

"I think I heard a fight between (Y/N) and her boyfriend."

Tony let out a small chuckle, "All couples go thru that, Cap. You might not have much experience in that area, but it will happen from time to time."

"No, Tony." Steve moved quickly to stand in front of him, an urgency in his eyes as he spoke. "It was more than some lovers quarrel. I think...I think he put his hands on her." His eyes lowered to the ground, replaying the scene in his head, wondering if he should have done more. You had become very important to him since he had joined the Avengers, and he wouldn't forgive himself if you needed him and he didn't protect you.

Tony's expression hardened and his eyes immediately darkened. Steve clearly had his full attention now, and he could see Tony's anxiety and anger building right before him. "Rogers, if you think that's what you heard, why didn't you go in there and stop it?"

"It wasn't until I was down the hall, and by the time I was back to her door, it was quiet. I heard her say she was going to bed. I didn't want to force my way in there if I had been wrong."

Tony moved to stand face-to-face with Steve, his posture still rigid, "But what if you were right?"

~~~

Tony had been acting strangely around you over the next few days, but you weren't exactly sure why. He called more often, texted constantly, and showed up at your doorstep unannounced. When you asked him what was going on, he always made it seem like you were overreacting, but you knew there was something up, and you would have to get it out of him eventually. You were getting ready to meet him for a quick lunch, so maybe today was the day.

"I'll be back in a couple hours, I'm going to meet up with dad for lunch."

Your boyfriend appeared from the bedroom, looking tired and confused, "when did you plan that? I thought we were going out today?"

"I told you this just the other day." Your voice became irritated, rolling your eyes at how he always forgot what you had told him, "I'm having lunch with dad, then when I get back we can go. I don't have a show tonight so we have all kinds of time."

"No, you told me we had all day." It appeared that he perked up at the opportunity to fight with you, moving closer to you now. "I'm sick of you spending time with everyone but me."

"Oh, come on, we spend plenty of time together. I'll be back in just a couple hours, you'll be fine." You grabbed your purse and began to head for the door. You were pulled backwards when he snatched the strap of your bag, ripping it from your arm and throwing it forcefully to the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

You spun around to face him, now more pissed than ever. As you bent down to gather your belongings, he pushed you onto the floor, leaning over you with his hand raised as if ready to strike you. Before his arm could move any further, the window of your apartment shattered across the room, sending him diving behind the couch for shelter.

The familiar sounds of the Iron Man suit filled your small home, and your eyes grew wide as your father grabbed your boyfriend by the shirt and held him out the window, fifteen stories above hard pavement.

"Make your move, asshole."

"Put me down!"

"Bad move. Boy, you really are stupid." Tony released his grip just enough for him to fall a few stories, but flew down to catch him, still dangling your soon-to-be-ex by his now partially torn shirt.

"Wanna try that again?"

"Please, please could you just set me down?" You had never heard his voice so full of fear, it almost sounded childlike in a way. You wanted to feel some pity for him, for the situation that you father currently held him in, but you couldn't find it within you, and all you wanted was for this whole thing to be done and in your past. Counted as just another one of your bad decisions.

"Dad, it's okay, just let him go." Your words were out before you chose them, and you hurried before he took you literally, "just set him gently on the ground."

Tony lifted him back into the window of the apartment, just about to set him down but releasing him early so that when his feet hit the floor he lost his balance and fell to his knees. You saw the opportunity and moved in front of him as your dad took his post behind the now tearful man. You bent down to look him in the eye, holding your face close to his. You were actually glad to see him feel a little of the fear that he had tried to put on you.

"I told you, you should re-think what you were doing. How could you possibly think it would be okay to act like that when my dad is Iron Man? I was giving you a chance to do better, to be better." You stood again, looking down on him with contempt, glancing up at your dad for support. "Whatever I saw in you before is gone, and so am I."

Grabbing your purse and finally collecting what had spilled out, you opened the door, waving your dad out before you. "So, that worked up an appetite. Where should we go? I suddenly have all the time in the world."

Part 3

"So, when do I get to meet this new boyfriend of yours?" Tony asked, shoving a huge piece of bread into his mouth. "Gotta be better than that last waste of skin, right?"

"We are in public, you know. Could you maybe try some manners? You eat like a pig." You smiled and threw your own half-eaten bread at him, laughing when he ducked and the tossed food hit the unknowing stranger behind him. "Oh, shit! I'm sorry, sir! I'm so sorry!"

Your dad sat up and laughed until he nearly choked, tears rolling down his cheeks and holding his side. "Oh, god," he panted, "oh that was great! I'm sorry, sir, truly." Still laughing uncontrollably, he pulled out his wallet at threw a crisp hundred dollar bill on the man's table and turned back to you. "Dinner is on me."

"Alright, so now that I'm fully mortified, I guess now is as good a time as any."

"For what?"

"To meet the new boyfriend." You grabbed your phone and quickly sent a text, signaling that he could join you, and that it was probably as safe as it would ever be. He had insisted on a public place during a busy time so there would be plenty of civilians around and less likelihood that your dad would flip out. "Okay, he's on the way."

Tony looked around the room, his curiosity peaked, "Oh, we're gonna do this now? Okay, cool. So, I assume the public environment was by choice then?"

"Wow," you scoffed, "that's exactly right. He insisted on it." You leaned into the table to be closer to him and spoke in a low voice, "so, dad, listen. This is really important to me, okay? I'm very happy with how this has been going, so please don't fuck this up for me."

"Language, young lady."

"Okay, dad, now you sound like-"

"Rogers," Tony looked up as Steve approached your table and held his beer up in greeting, "fancy meeting you here, man. What's up?"

The Captain took a deep and deliberate breath, moving to stand behind you, resting his hands on your shoulders. You felt a small squeeze and knew that he was nervous. "Hey, Tony."

The sound of your dad choking on his beer filled the small restaurant, and you worried that this might actually kill him. When he regained his composure and his eyes practically bulged out of his head, you worried that he might actually kill Steve instead.

~~~

"There is no way in hell that I'm going to allow this!"

"Tony, I think she's old enough to make this decision."

"You stay out of this, grandpa! Oh my god, don't even get me started on the age thing!"

"Dad-"

"No, I'm not gonna listen to one word about this! You have no idea what you're doing!"

"Stark, I've known how I've felt for a long time. I love her."

Tony's face flushed a deep red and a low growl escaped from his throat as he lunged at Steve, pushing him into the side of the building. Steve made no attempt to fight back or resist, making Tony even that much more angry. Having had enough, you jumped forward and grabbed your dad's arm, but he reacted instinctively by pulling his arm back sharply, almost inadvertently hitting you. You felt a jolt of fear and ducked down, covering your head with your arms. The sight of you stopped both men and shocked them into action.

"(Y/N), shit, are you okay? Did I hit you?"

"Honey, it's okay. You're okay." Steve knelt down beside you, but you stood quickly and ran towards your apartment, not wanting to be near either of them and praying that neither would follow you.

Tony looked at Steve, his face filled with regret. "I'm...I'm sorry, Rogers. I guess I didn't handle that very well." He lowered his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, his feet shuffling a bit; it was a defeated stature that Steve had never seen from his teammate before. "Try to see it from my point of view. She's my daughter, Cap. I'm gonna be overprotective, especially given what she just got out of with that guy."

Steve nodded in agreement, still looking down the sidewalk to try to see you. "I should follow her. Be sure she gets home safely." He glanced at Tony, "if you can think of one person better for her than me, I'll step aside." With that he broke into a run, desperate to catch up to you and to keep you safe.

In that moment, Tony realized that he would never be able to think of anyone better than Steve Rogers.

~~~

You slammed your apartment door shut behind you and turned the lock as fast as you could before crumbling to the ground when the stress of the moment released you. Your adrenaline burst had helped you get there, but it had now dissipated and you felt like you had run a marathon. Leaning back against the door, you felt your body relax and the urge to let sleep take over would have won if Steve hadn't started banging on the damn thing.

"Go away, Steve. Please go away."

The banging stopped, but he didn't reply right away. You pressed your ear to the door to try to figure out if he was even still there or not. You heard his body slide down the door so that he could sit next to you, and when he finally spoke, his voice was sad and uncharacteristic for him. "(Y/N), I can't do that. You know I can't."

You put your hand up against the door, wanting to have contact with him without having to show yourself. You were embarrassed by the scene outside of the restaurant, and even though this was a man that you trusted with your life, you couldn't bring yourself to trust him to not judge you right now.

"Steve, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do this to you."

"What do you think you're doing to me?"

You closed your eyes and sighed, still holding your hand in place. "I'm a mess. I'm broken. I'm just...I'm...I'm not worth it, Steve. You could do so much better."

There was a rustling on the other side of the door, and the knob began to shake over your head. Was he really trying to break in? Knowing if anyone could it would be him, you jumped up and stepped back in case he decided to break it down. Before you could unlock it for him, the entire handle was pulled free and into his hand, leaving a hole in its place.

"You owe me a new lock," you said as you peeked through the new opening.

The door slowly creaked open, and as he walked through you noticed that he was moving cautiously and worried that he would startle you. "I have a better idea." He dropped the handle on the floor and reached out to take your hands in his. "Move into the tower with us. With me."

"Haha, that's a great joke, Steve." You pulled your hands away and stepped around him to open the door so that he might leave. "Dad can't be in the same room with you now, but hey, let's poke the angry bear and live together in front of him. Death wish?"

"Shut the door, (Y/N), I'm not done."

You rubbed your hand over your eyes, exhausted just from the thought of the conversation he wanted to have. "Steve..."

He deliberately raised his hand over your head and pushed the door shut, his movements still cautious. "Please don't ever say things like that about yourself in front of me, okay? They aren't true." He took your hands again, this time keeping his grip tighter so that you wouldn't pull away. "I could never do better, (Y/N). You're it. I've waited so long for you, and I'm not about to let you go now."

"I'm just afraid that either I'm going to screw this up, or you're going to realize that it's too hard. That's even before we factor in my dad."

"Let me worry about Tony. Move in."

"Did you hear a word that I've said, Steve?"

"Yes. Did you hear what I've said? I'm in love, and that's not going to change. We both deserve a win."

Would it be a bad thing? He said he had been waiting for you, and let's be honest, you had done the same for him. It would allow you to rebuild the relationship with your dad that had been fractured for so long, and maybe that would give you some leverage in convincing him that you knew what you were doing. The tower was already like your second home, and that team was your family, so you knew that you could be happy there. The more you contemplated it, the more you realized that you were listing any reason that you could find to justify doing it. Finally, the most important reason was the last one you needed to consider; you loved Steve.

"Well," you sighed, nodding your head in agreement of your decision, "you're not wrong."