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VALOR
viii. TINKER BELL

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   RILEY WAS DAMN GOOD at what she did. For a nine-year-old, Riley was outstanding in her line of work. That was clear as day. She thought she had it all figured out by now, but when she was reassigned to work with Tony Stark, she didn't know what to expect.

   Riley honestly never realized that Tony fled from the premises. She had chosen to give him some privacy while watching the videos his father left for Tony. When she returned to the lab to check on him, Tony was missing. Riley had originally assumed he was in the bathroom, but then again, who goes to the bathroom for a few hours?

   It wasn't until Tony returned with a bunch of equipment and a newfound motivation to save his life when Riley realized he had actually left.

   Riley watched as Tony Stark maneuvered throughout his laboratory. Part of her still couldn't believe where she was. Incredible things had occurred in this very lab, and they were all by Tony's hand. The nerdy girl was honored.

   "So am I supposed to just trust that you know your stuff?" inquired Tony, walking around seemingly aimlessly. "No offense." He turned to fidget with his tech, adding, "JARVIS, could you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wireframe? I need a manipulatable projection."

   Riley followed him around, eager and curious to see what he was doing. "Pretty much," she confirmed. "I did help whip up that Lithium oxide that treated your symptoms, you know."

   Tony hummed. "Fair enough," he remarked. Riley studied him. He seemed to be using conversation to keep him grounded, to slow down his mind before it overheated like it usually did.

   Riley was hesitant. She still hadn't figured Tony out quite yet. She was waiting for him to become a carbon copy of every adult she'd ever worked with—the ones that doubted her and dismissed her. But from the looks of it, Riley was slowly beginning to think he would continue to surprise her.

   Tony continued, "I just usually work alone on this stuff, so—"

   "1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, sir," announced the artificial intelligence known as JARVIS.

   "I can tell. You didn't even offer me a seat!" Riley humored. Tony shot her an unsure glance, silently judging her. Riley just beamed. "I'm kidding."

   "You're funny," he sarcastically annotated as he hoisted the blue projection away from the model. "How many buildings are there?"

   "Am I to include the Belgian waffle stands?" JARVIS wondered.

   "That was rhetorical. Just show me," Tony directed before peering back at Riley. "So, that's your gimmick? You're a... superhero orphan that's inventive and annoying?"

   Riley tilted her head to the side, eyebrows bunched together. "Annoying?" she repeated. "I thought I was funny!"

   "More or less," quipped Tony. He turned around to face the model again. "So you're a bit like... Hm..."

   "Like what?" she commanded. When Tony didn't reply, she added, "It's okay. Take your time. It's not like we're in the middle of saving your life or anything."

   Rolling his eyes, Tony snapped his fingers and spun the holographic model around. A large, spherical object developed before them. "Come here, kid," urged Tony. He waved his hand, allotting Riley to move closer. He motioned to the sphere and asked, "What does that look like to you?"

   Riley was briefly stunned. She hadn't expected him to actually use her for his mission. When she worked with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientists to uncover a temporary cure for Tony's heart, she had to fight for her place there. But with Tony, he seemed like he wanted to trust her.

   "Uh, well, it's not like an atom," she observed. "'Cause the nucleus would be right... there. Its biological makeup is abnormal."

   "Correct. That was a test," confirmed Tony. He pulled up a chair for himself, grabbing an extra one for Riley. He sat in his before patting the second one for the child. She smiled at the praise. "JARVIS, highlight the Unisphere. Lose the footpaths. Get rid of them."

   Riley's eyes lit up in astonishment at how the holograph moved as he pleased. It reminded her of her forcefields. She wondered if she could manipulate her fields like that...

   "What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?" pondered JARVIS, which caused Riley to raise her hand and say, "I would also like to know that."

   Tony eyed the holograph. "I'm discovering... Correction, I'm rediscovering a new element, I believe," he clarified. "Uh, lose the landscaping, shrubbery, the trees... Parking lots, exits, entrances—"

   "Aw, do you have to get rid of the frozen yogurt place?" teased Riley.

   Tony glimpsed back at her, almost hoping for his thought to immediately make itself clear. "I'm telling you, it's on the tip of my tongue..." He shook his head, focusing again. "Okay, structure the protons and neutrons using... the pavilions as a framework."

   Then, Tony outstretched his arms. The model resembled a nucleus, but as he expanded it, the holograph surrounded him and Riley in an array of blue lights. "Whoa..." whispered Riley, astonished. Tony had done it—he had rediscovered an element. It would be the perfect replacement for the Palladium in his arc reactor.

   Tony spun in his chair, a twinkle of enlightenment in his eyes. "Dead for almost 20 years and still taking me to school," he muttered. He clapped his hands together, forcing the model to shrink. "Thanks, Dad."

   "The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium. Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize."

   Tony rose to his feet, looking around at the robots scattered around the lab. The next step was to prepare a machine of some sort that could store the newly rediscovered element, which would ultimately save Tony's life. "Get ready for a major remodel, fellas," Tony blazoned. "We're back in hardware mode."

   Riley raised an eyebrow, unsure. She looked around the lab as she queried, "Are you... talking to the machines...?"

   Tony was quick to defend himself. "Hey, robots have feelings, too... even if these guys are absolute morons." He turned to her. "Alright, come on. Up and at 'em. We've got work to do."

   Riley grinned zealously, hurrying to follow after the genius. She had spent the last week fantasizing what it was like to work alongside Tony Stark, and now, her dreams were coming true. She wondered all of the things they could accomplish together.

   They started by smashing apart a concrete wall to make space for their large contraption. Riley watched in amusement as Tony huffed and puffed, a sledgehammer in his hands. Back and forth, he swung it, growing wearier by the second. "Uh, Tony?" beckoned Riley. "...Tony?"

   Tony cleared his throat. "...Yeah, kid?" he turned, clearly out of breath.

   "Could I try?" she requested with a sweet smile. The sweaty man turned to face her, unsure. "Come on! I have superhuman DNA. I think I can handle a stupid wall. Let me try!"

   Tony sighed. "Fine. Knock yourself out," he said before pausing. "But not literally. That'd look really bad on my end."

   Snorting, Riley moved forward to obtain the sledgehammer. She took it by the handle and dragged it across the floor. The scraping sound that was produced caused Tony to cringe, but his contorted facial expression soon displayed one of awe once Riley swung it with ease. The wall was destroyed in a matter of moments.

   Between drilling holes into the floor, fiddling with wires, and piecing together pipes, Riley O'Dair found herself fully appreciating her time with the masterful, conceited asshole that was Tony Stark.

   As Tony dispatched another insult at his rather obtuse robots, Riley challenged, "You know, if you're such a genius, why don't you just make your robots smarter?"

   "'Cause where's the fun in that?" he retorted. Pleased by his answer, Riley snickered. "You're a real smartass, you know that?"

   Riley flashed him a big smile. "The realest one you'll ever know!" she mocked, pretending to act like Nick Fury at the donut shop earlier that day.

   "You're a huge smartass," Tony insisted, almost dismissing Riley's reply. "You're extremely inventive, too. Like that thing you did with the wires back there?"

   Riley proudly proclaimed, "It was nothing!"

   "But you're incredibly annoying, too..." continued Tony. "It's like... you can't go five seconds without making some kind of comment. You're intelligent and annoying. Like..."

   Riley paused when she realized he hadn't addressed a single thing she had said. She turned to the robot she learned was named Dum-E. "Why do I have a feeling he's ignoring me?" she asked him. The robot made a few foreign noises in response.

   "Tinker Bell!" Tony declared, causing Riley to flinch at the unexpected outburst. "That's what's been on the tip of my tongue all day." He turned to her. "You're like Tinker Bell. Inventive, annoying, tiny."

   Riley didn't know much about children's stories. She didn't have time to watch cartoons and read picture books growing up thus far, but she was somewhat familiar with basic names and plotlines to many classics. So when she heard the comparison of her to Tinker Bell, Riley rolled her eyes.

   With that, Agent Phil Coulson entered the lab. He had a serious look on his face, his body language stiff and hard to read. He resembled every agent Riley had ever seen, including herself when she was actually focusing. This time, Riley was just having fun for once.

   "I heard you broke the perimeter," asserted Phil Coulson.

   Tony and Riley exchanged glances. "Yeah," Tony confirmed. "That was, like, three years ago. Where have you been?"

   "I was doing some stuff," Coulson confessed. He glanced back at Riley. "He giving you any trouble?"

   Riley gave him a smile. "If I say yes, will you still tase him?"

   Tony rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm playing for the home team, Coulson—you and all your Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers," he reassured. "Now, are you gonna let us work, or break my balls?"

   Riley giggled as she continued to work. While it seemed that Riley had done a lot, she was just acting as Tony's assistant. For the most part, their accomplishments were accredited to Tony.

   Coulson leaned down and lifted a circular object from the floor. It looked like a shield—one that Riley could've sworn she'd seen somewhere before. It was somewhat dismantled, though. All that she could really see from it were a few red and blue stripes, as well as a big white star in the middle.

   "What's this doing here?" Coulson interrogated.

   Tony turned to see it. "That's it," he realized. "Bring that to me."

   "You know what this is?" continued Coulson while approaching the genius.

   Tony insisted, "It's exactly what I need to make this work." He motioned Riley over. "Come on, lift the coil." The small girl stood on her toes and held up the large pipe with ease, allowing Tony to stick the shield underneath it. Tony placed a small beam on the pipe and smiled, satisfied. "Perfectly level. Nicely done, Tink."

   Riley scrunched up her nose. "Please tell me that's not my new nickname," she grumbled.

   "Not telling you the truth doesn't mean it isn't the truth," stated Tony, earning a loud sigh from Riley. Tony turned back to Coulson. "What do you want?"

   "Nothing," admitted Coulson. "Goodbye. I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico."

   "God, I'd kill for some Mexican food right now," Riley muttered to herself. "You'd think New Mexico would have good Mexican food, right?"

   "Fantastic," commented Tony, ignoring Riley. "Land of Enchantment."

   "So I'm told."

   "Secret stuff?"

   "Something like that. Good luck," said Coulson. The two men shook hands. "We need you."

   "Yeah," replied Tony. "More than you know."

   Coulson hummed. "Not that much."

   With that, he was gone, leaving Riley in a temporarily puzzled state. 'Men are so weird...' she thought to herself before getting back to work.

○ ○ ○

   "I turn around for one second, and now I have to save him? Again?" Riley O'Dair grumbled to herself as she sat in the back of a taxi cab. She folded her arms over her chest, pouting.

   After successfully containing the element Tony rediscovered, he had received a strange phone call from Ivan Vanko—a man who was supposed to be dead. All Riley picked up was that Vanko was threatening Tony before he hung up. Riley didn't have time to ask questions because Tony almost immediately flew away in his suit to the weapons presentation Justin Hammer was hosting.

   The problem Riley was faced with now was that she'd been abandoned by Tony, which meant that the poor girl had to hail a taxi to catch up.

   Her driver eyed her from his seat. "Are you sure your parents are at this conference?"

   "Uh-huh," calmly lied Riley.

   "Hm..." he trailed off. He was an older man with graying hair and glasses. Oddly enough, he wore a nametag with the name Stan sewn into it. "And what are their names?"

   Riley paused. "...Tony," she answered, deciding that by giving the names of a living person would be easier to pull off than dead ones. "And... Pepper."

   Stan furrowed his eyebrows. "As in... Tony Stark and Pepper Potts?" he interrogated as he parked the car at the convention.

   Riley paused, unbuckling her seatbelt and sliding him some cash. "Maybe," replied Riley with a cheeky smile, "maybe not."

   Once Riley exited the car, she was greeted by dozens upon dozens of people fleeing the convention center in a frenzied state. Riley gasped, her eyes immediately traveling to the night sky. Iron Man soared overheard with presumably murderous robots flying after him. Riley glanced back down at the civilians rushing past her, now seeing that there were more robots on the ground-level attacking them.

   "I have a feeling this isn't part of the convention," Riley mumbled as her eyes locked on Natasha Romanoff. "Nat? Nat!" Riley quickened her pace to meet her halfway. "What's going on? What happened?"

   "Ivan Vanko's alive," Natasha briefly explained.

   "I know that already. That's why Tony's here. Vanko wants revenge for what Howard Stark did," she reiterated. Her eyes widened as one of the robots knocked down a large pillar. "I'm guessing I'm on defense?"

   Natasha was still walking as they conversed. They headed toward Happy Hogan, who had been standing by the car and awaiting his bosses. "I'm gonna go to Hammer Industries and shut this thing down," stated Natasha. "I need you on offense and defense. Damage-control. Protect who you can and try not to get yourself killed. You're on your own here."

   Riley's heart dropped into her stomach at the idea of being alone on a field mission. She'd always worked with a team... never alone. "What!?"

   "I need you to do this, Riley," Natasha urged. "Stay focused. I'll come back for you." Before Riley could argue any further, Natasha was already driving away with Happy.

   Riley breathed in and out slowly, attempting to calm herself down. She turned to see the robots, which were really just enormous Iron Man ripoffs. That made sense, considering Justin Hammer had been the one working with the Vankos. Turning invisible, Riley scanned the scene.

   The clouds in the sky danced with the smoke produced from the fiery explosions the robots created. Screams shredded Riley's eardrums. Her chest grew tighter and tighter with each boom, boom, boom that rippled through her body.

   Riley needed to focus. Her first and only priority was to protect the people. She couldn't freak out now. She needed to put them first. With a sigh, Riley thought to herself, 'Please don't die, Riley,' before rushing forward.

   The robots seemed to be divided into groups: one to attack Iron Man, another to attack the people and wreak havoc. She wasn't worried about Tony. She knew he could handle himself, which was why she moved to create forcefields where she could. She protected the civilians from explosions, fired shots, and falling debris; however, Riley could see that this wasn't enough. Her efforts would be futile unless she could find a way to dismantle the robots. Her fists and flimsy guns weren't enough. She needed to get creative.

   Riley's gaze descended upon the rubble around her. She focused her forcefields around them, lifting the debris and chucking them at the robots. The blunt force was enough to take multiple robots down at once.

   'If only there was a way for them to just... self-destruct or something,' thought Riley as she obliterated the robots. Then, an idea struck her.

   The quick-witted girl turned toward one of the robots, creating a forcefield inside of the robot. Just as she presumed, the robot exploded due to the pressure of the field. Riley grinned in satisfaction. Sure, this fight would undoubtedly drain her quickly, but her two strategies would be enough for now.

   As the fight persisted, Riley couldn't help but notice a helpless boy adorning an Iron Man mask. Her eyes widened as he was approached by a robot, but just before Riley could protect him, Tony landed behind him. The little boy stuck his arm out as Iron Man would, but the blast that took down the enemy came from Tony, as well as a brief, "Nice work, kid!"

   Relieved, Riley was about to turn back to the fight, but she refrained because she was still distracted by the little boy. She sighed. The boy was unmoving, most likely due to shock. She shook her head and turned herself visible before approaching him.

   The soot-covered hero stood before him and shouted, "What are you doing!? Run! Get out of here!"

   "H-Huh!?" stuttered the boy. Now that Riley was in front of him, she could see him more clearly. His brown hair was a mess and his matching brown eyes were filled with shock once he ripped off his Iron Man mask. He was the same age as Riley.

   "What's your name?" she demanded. "Come on! We don't have the time for this!"

   "What!?"

   "Tell me your name, dude!" insisted Riley.

   "Uh, P-Peter," he stammered. "I'm Peter... Peter Par—"

   "Okay, Peter, run!" interrupted Riley. "Unless you want to die!" The boy called Peter nodded briskly and scurried away toward safety.

   Once Peter was safe, Riley investigated the warzone again. It seemed like she had wiped out the majority of the robots in her area, which pleased her. However, when she noticed more fly overhead, Riley felt the strongest urge to just drop dead.

   'Oh, come on!' Riley unhappily thought before resuming the fight. 'Doesn't Vanko know I have better things to do than play with his toys!?'

   Her legs burned and her head ached as she continued to throw debris at the robots and force the robots to explode from the inside out. Riley wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up.

   She adjusted the earpiece she seemed to always have on. "Nat? Can you hear me? How much longer!?"

   "I hear you," Natasha recognized. "Hang in there, O'Dair."

   Riley was about to retort with a complaint, but she was taken aback when the remaining robots around her seemed to stop moving completely. The girl froze, eyebrows furrowed together as they all dropped on the ground at once. She spun around to see them. Hundreds of robots were dispersed around the area, each unmoving.

   "Well, that was fast," muttered Riley. Now that Riley had stopped running around, she was able to catch her breath. Her first assumption was that the fight was over, meaning that it was safe for her to relax.

   She walked toward the nearest one as a red blinking light was emitted from each robot. A droning beeping was sung by each other. She tilted her head to the side as each beep was out of sync with the others. Riley was unsure what to do now, but she was pretty sure she was fine to relax for a moment.

  Maybe Riley thought too soon.

   "Agent O'Dair, do you copy? The drones are rigged to explode," abruptly notified Natasha. "I repeat, the drones are going to explode. Do you copy? Get the hell out of there! Riley!"

   The news caused Riley's heart to skip a beat. She only had seconds to move. The beeping coming from the drones grew louder and louder, indicating that she didn't have much time. Riley peered back at the path to safety. It was too far. She didn't have enough time to make it over there. Now that Riley was thinking about it, the only person who was left in the middle of the warzone was her. Riley needed to come up with something fast.

   The beeping and Natasha's shouts grew louder and louder in Riley's ear until she ultimately threw herself on the ground and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the end as the robots exploded all around her. Riley was sure she was a goner. She was positive she was going to die, that this was how her story would end—saving others like she once dreamed of.

   Silence. A numbing silence was all Riley could hear, aside from the ringing in her ear.

   "Riley? RILEY? Do you copy?" Natasha yelled as the ringing slowly subsided. "Agent O'Dair, talk to me!"

   Riley opened one of her eyes, feeling relief as she noticed her own forcefield glistening around her. "Oh, thank, God," muttered Riley under her breath. "It worked."

   "Riley? C'mon, say something!"

   Riley coughed as the smoke clouded her lungs. "I think I'm alive?" she announced, raising her rather raspy voice to ensure that Natasha could hear her.

   Natasha released a loud sigh of relief. "Christ, are you okay?"

   Riley forced out a low snicker. "You can't get... rid of me that easily," she stated, forcing herself to rise onto her feet once more.

   There was a pause before Natasha spoke again. "You're gonna be the death of me, shortie."

   Riley snorted. She squeezed her eyes shut, relieved to still be alive. She was happy to know this was all over, even if the explosions were still echoing in her mind. Still, this was nothing. She knew she would be okay... as long as nothing like that happened again in the near future.

   She just wished she would have known that this was far from the worst thing to come in her life as a superhero.

○ ○ ○

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

i just want to say: if you've ever wondered why there always seemed to be less deaths/destruction in all of these fights in the mcu, i like to think it's because riley's out there protecting everyone.

ALSO....RILEY AND PETER MET....LOL. i mean not REALLY, but yk, they met! how wild is THAT!? as soon as i remembered that peter parker is canonically in iron man 2, i knew i had to incorporate that particular scene into this fic hehe.

up next is the movie i've been waiting to write for the LONGEST TIME! the avengers (2012) didn't age well, but i love her with everything in me!