"Whoa... Is that?"

"The actual, giant arc reactor? Yes it is."

Tony and I were standing in the main lobby of one of his factories just a quick drive from Star Industries HQ. Inside it was the much, much bigger large scale original arc reactor. It was an incredible piece of work.

It was a large see-through circular tube with electricity spiking all around it, red and gold metal plating surrounding its top and bottom.

"And it powers everything here?" I asked him with curiosity.

"Everything." Tony nodded.

"Wow." I whistled, never taking my eyes off of the device.

The sound of the front doors automatically opening alerted us as we looked over to see Obadiah Stane enter the room, a cigar in his mouth. He sighed deeply, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, that... that went well."

"Bashira, give us adults a moment to talk." Tony spoke, looking down at me. "I'll just be a minute."

"O-Okay." I nodded.

I took one last look at the arc reactor before walking away from my new guardian, flashing Mr. Stane a smile as I left the building.

Outside Happy was waiting by the car, also guarding a segway. Must belong to Jeff. Such an interesting mode of transportation.

"How are you liking Star Industries?" Happy asked me.

"Hmm? Oh, it's pretty neat." I answered with a nod.

As I leaned back to rest against the hood of the car, Happy raised a steady hand. "Don't--"

"Okay." I raised my hands in defense, standing right back up.

I stood there with uncertainty for a short while, looking around the area.

"Did you know he'd do something like this?" Happy spoke up.

"Huh?" I flinched, looking over at him.

"Tony Stark, shutting down the weapons program." Happy clarified.

"Oh... that. Um... Well, I'd say... I thought he'd do a minor fix up. Like, background checks for example," I explained. I was literally making all of this up at the top of my head. "But I never imagined he'd go this far."

Um, actually, I did. Well, now anyways. What else was he supposed to do? Tony's trying to make things better for the world, yet so far everyone seems to not like this proposal.

"Now I want you to promise me that you're going to lay low, alright?" Obadiah spoke as he and Tony came walking outside.

"Alright, I'll lay low." Tony replied.

"We're going to be taking a lot of heat for a little while." Obadiah explained. "Think of Bashira, this might be a little uncomfortable for her."

"... I can take a little heat." I spoke up.

The two of them stopped their conversation as they both looked over towards me.

"Believe me. Compared to what I went through back at home, this should be nothing."

******

The drive to Tony's place was torturous. To me it seemed to take absolutely forever to get there! But after a long drive through the Miami highways, Happy pulled up to the lot.

I was the first to jump out of my seat, exiting the vehicle. I stared up at the house with amazement. It was like something out of those cool, futuristic houses I saw on TV once. A house right on the cliff, looking out at the ocean.

"Welcome to your new home." Tony spoke, placing his good hand on my shoulder. "How about a tour?"

"That'd be awesome!" A smiled.

Pepper followed closely behind as the three of us entered the house. Upon entering, my breath was just taken away by the interior of the house! The living room a white wall paper with beige marble flooring. There was a wooden coffee table with wide while in it, standing in the middle of the room with a matching beige sofa, and two black chairs around it. A flat screen TV dangled from the ceiling, with a wide ocean view window behind it.

Just over to the left was a silver grand piano, and just beside it, a small waterfall which was placed in the middle of the upward and downward stairs. And at the other side of the room, over to the right, was the kitchen.

"This is the living room, where you can sit back, relax." Tony began, pointing things out that I had already beat'em to it to see.

"Over there is the kitchen, where I am told you can get a delicious meal." He teased, glancing over at Pepper.

"Hilarious." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Upstairs are the bedrooms and bathrooms." he pointed upwards, before patting me on the back. "Tell you what, I'll give you the guest room, okay? And if you want to tweak it up a bit, make a little more roomy for you, let me know."

"Really?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"Go on up and see." he smiled.

I smiled with glee at the man before running up the stairs, hearing Pepper calling my name, saying, "You're room is the at the end of the hall, on the right!"

"Thank you!" I yelled back as I made my way up to the top.

It was a slightly narrow hallway, but easy to glide by. I walked down the hall, noticing a few open doors. Bathroom... storage closet... oh, there it is!

I finally made it to the guest room, well, my room, at the end of the hall, just like Pepper said. I stood before it, raising my hand over to the door knob. I was about to touch it until I hesitated. What if I didn't like it? One thing was for sure, it would be nothing compared to my old room!

My room...

I sighed heavily, clutching my hand into a fist.

I'm sure going to miss that old house. Everything I owned was there.

I quickly shook it off, slapping myself lightly in the face. It's just like Papa said, always look forward to the future.

Without a second thought, I grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open, taking a look inside.

The room had light pale wooden flooring with a large carpet resting under the queen size bed. It was a white mattress with matching bed sheets and pillow and a light brown blanket at the end of the mattress. There was a night stand on either side of it, both with lamps, and a small vase of flowers. The two walls across from me had giant look out windows, the one to the right with a balcony and a beach chair.

"This... this is the guest room?" I talked to myself, stepping further into the room as I looked around it. "This might as well be the master bedroom."

"That would be Mr. Stark's room, just across from you." A robotic voice echoed.

It startled me, making me yelp. I shielded myself, shaking slightly as I poked my head out from behind my hands.

"W-Who s-said that?" I asked with a whisper.

"I did." The voice answered. "My apologies if I startled you."

"... It's okay, I-I-I guess. Who are you?" I asked, slowly straightening myself.

"I am J.A.R.V.I.S. Mr. Stark's AI System. I assist him with his many projects and I also run the house." He explained.

"You run the house? Just you?" I asked with surprise.

"Naturally." He answered. "Ms. Potts assists time to time when needed."

"Ah huh... well, J.A.R.V.I.S., what does your name stand for?" I asked him, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"It's, well, quite embarrassing." he admitted.

"Tell me, it's okay." I pleaded with assurance. "I won't laugh."

"Oh alright... it stands for... Just a Rather Very Intelligent System." He answered.

Despite my promise to the system, I couldn't help but giggle. "I'm sorry! I couldn't help myself... An interesting acronym."

"Thank you, Ms..." he paused as there was a random clicking sound before he continued. "Bashira Yinsen?"

I gasped with shock. "How did you know my name?"

"I searched you up in the database and accessed your files. Oddly, I don't see much record of you in the American Data-banks. Are you a recent arrival?" He asked me.

"Y-Yes. Yes I am." I nodded.

"Ah, here we are. Found it," he began as an image appeared on the window. A holographic one. It was a document of some sort with the US military seal on it.

"You were given refuge here by Mr. Stark." he spoke.

"In a way, yes." I replied.

"I see." said J.A.R.V.I.S. as the image vanished, just I placed my hand on the window. Instantly new holographic images appeared on the glass. Weather reports, tide measures, the time, stocks, everything.

"Whoa..." I whistled.

I scanned the glass until I discovered an option at the end. A green button with the writing 'redecorate' on top of it.

"What does this button do?" I asked, pointing at it.

"That allows you to change the wall paper, lights, and tint the windows to your liking. Would you like to make any changes with the room Ms. Yinsen?" He asked me.

"Um..." I pondered, looking around the room. "Thanks okay J.A.R.V.I.S., I think I like it just the way it is."

"Very good ma'am." He replied, followed by another series of clicks and beeps. "If you'll excuse me, Mr. Stark requests my assistance."

"Okay." I replied.

"I hope you settle in well Ms. Yinsen." He stated.

"Thank you J.A.R.V.I.S." I thanked.

And with that, there was a beep and the images on the window vanished. That pretty much lead me to speculate that J.A.R.V.I.S. was not around anymore.

"What a nice robot." I smiled.

*******

A couple days had passed since the day I arrived in America. Tony and Pepper have been doing their best to help me settle and adjust to my new life here in the States.

Pepper took me clothes shopping to help buy me a new wardrobe. There were so many different styles that caught my eye, but I felt bad for Pepper having to pay for it all. She assured me that it was no trouble, so I took her word for it.

She also took me shopping to help spice up my new room a little bit. A desk with a MAC computer, a drawer for my new clothes, and a few wall decorations here and there.

Tony has also took the liberty of home schooling me. That is until Pepper can assign me into a school in the area. Personally I don't really mind if Tony home schools me. Less trouble for Pepper to deal with.

But she insisted, and she's been so nice to me, I just had trouble saying no.

Today Pepper and I were in the living room, watching some television while doing some work. Pepper was doing some things for Stark Industries while I was writing up and filling in a resume for a Private School in the city.

Today I was wearing a light fabric, grey, long sleeve shirt with blue skinny jeans with holes in them, with light leggings underneath and flat sneakers.

"How's it coming?" Pepper asked me.

"It's okay. Do you think I'll get in?" I asked her in reply, looking up at her.

"You won't know until you try." She smiled.

I smiled back as I focused back on my report, but something on the television screen caught my attention a few moments later.

"Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready?"

I looked up at the TV screen to see a show called "MAD Money" was playing. The host was a bald man with a dress shirt, tie, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells?"

Pepper sighed heavily as she stared at the TV screen with annoyance.

"Let me show you, Stark Industries new business plan!" The host picked up a baseball bat, and then proceeded to whack and break a mug.

"Look, that's weapons company who doesn't make weapons!"

"Why is he so angry?" I spoke up.

"I guess he doesn't agree with Mr. Stark's new path." Pepper replied.

"But... he's trying to do something good, right?" I looked over at her.

"Sadly, not everyone can see that Bashira." Pepper sighed, shrugging in my direction.

"Hey Pepper?" Tony's voice spoke up.

The woman turned down the volume of the TV before tapping her finger on a datapad. Tony's screenshot appeared on the screen as his voice print came up, shaking every time the man talked into the speaker.

"How big are your and Bashira's hands?" He asked.

"What?" Pepper raised her voice with confusion.

"How big are your hands?" He asked again.

"I don't understand why..." Pepper stuttered, seeming confused.

She wasn't the only one.

"I need you and Bashira down here." he stated.

The two of us looked at each other with confusion as Tony ended the call. We slowly got up to our feet, the two of us making our way downstairs. I followed Pepper, not knowing where I was going. I had never been downstairs yet, so I had no idea what to expect.

At the bottom, I could see a dark room with Tony sitting in a large chair in the middle, a light shining down on him. A blue holographic keypad appeared next to the door, as Pepper tapped the numbers with her finger. It changed green, her face appearing on the screen as the door unlocked, and she stepped inside.

I just slipped into the door, leaping up beside her as I looked around the room as the lights lit back up.

This was Tony's workshop!

The walls were a hard cement beige with grey flooring. A row of sports cars were at one end of the room, and all kinds of machinery and work stations were all over the place.

"Hey." Tony greeted.

I finally looked over at Tony and I gasped, nearly screaming.

There he was sitting in the large chair, holding the miniature arc reactor in his hand!

"Tony, are you crazy?!" I yelp, running over to his side. I noticed the wires hooked up to his chest and took notice of the heart meter and other devices around him. "You need that thing!"

"Let's see'em, show me your hands." He ignored my yelling, waving it off.

The two of us looked at each other with confusion before slowly raising our hands.

"Hmm... A little chubby on your end Bashira, so Pepper will do."

"Hey!" I whined, looking taken back.

"I just uh, need your help for a second." Tony explained as Pepper neared, coming up beside me.

"Oh my god, is that the thing that's keep you alive?" Pepper gasped.

"It was. It is now an antique." Tony clarified.

"You mean, it didn't work?" I asked with worry.

"Oh no, it worked. It just ran out of power." Tony explained, tapping the dead one in his chest, before pointing at the new, glowing arc reactor in his hand. "Just need to replace it with this one."

I mentally slapped myself in the face with a slight groan. How did I not notice that he had two of them?! "Don't... just don't scare me like that!"

"I'm was swiping this one up with a upgraded unit, and I ran into a little speed bump." He explained.

"Speed bump?" Pepper asked.

"It's nothing, it's just a little snag." Tony assured her. "There's an exposed... wire-!" He huffed as he pulled the dead reactor out of the slot of his chest, slowly, "And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short." He explained before tugging on it, and the red wire that hooked up to it plucked off, "Hold this?"

He handed if off to Pepper who took it in her fingers like she was handling a piece of poop. Sadly, I know that feeling all too well.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Pepper asked him.

"Put it on the table over there." He instructed, pointing at it.

"Okay, okay..." She moved slowly, setting it down on the table.

"Now, I want you to reach in here and you're just going to gently lift the wire out." Tony added.

Pepper turned back, taking a quick look inside the slot before looking over at Tony with uncertainty. "Is it safe?"

"Yeah, is it?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it will be fine." Tony answered. "It's like an operation, just don't let it touch the socket or it will beep. Just gently lift the wire."

"Okay..." Pepper breathed in and out, trying to relax as she slowly moved her hand towards the socket. I took a step back, standing behind Tony as I watched closely. "Bashira, honey, if it gets too scary, just look away."

"MmmHmm." I nodded, humming.

Pepper was about to go in until she jerked her hand back, her forehead sweating. "You know what? I don't think I'm qualified to do this."

"No, you're fine, you're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You'll do great." Tony assured.

I smiled at the two of them, seriously debating whether or not the two of them were actually a couple or not. They do look pretty cute together.

"Is it too much to ask? Cause I really need your help here." Tony pleaded.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it." Pepper caved, sighing before she slowly lifted her hand up again. She dove it into the socket, her face looking disgusted.

"Aw, ew! There's puss!" She yelped quietly.

"Ew." I stuck my tongue out.

"It's not pus, it's inorganic plasma." Tony clarified.

I sniffed, smelling something just absolutely vile as I plugged my nose, taking a step back. "And it smells too!"

"Yeah, it does." Tony agreed.

I couldn't take it anymore. I turned myself around, not daring to look. It was just getting to weird, and freaky.

Suddenly there was a loud 'BUZZ' with Tony yelping out loudly. "AHH!"

"What happened?!"I asked, zipping around.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Pepper apologized.

I watched with disguist as Pepper pulled the cooper wire out from the socket. A strange ooze grazed it, like something from an alien movie.

"Now make sure when you pull it out, and--AH! There it is."

When Pepper pulled on the wire, it pulled out a circular cooper wire magnet. Wait... magnet?!

"Is that the magnet?!" I yelped, rushing back over.

"I was not expecting that." Tony spoke blankly.

"What do I do--" Pepper was about to move the magnet back to the socket until both Tony and I yelped at her.

"No, no, no!"

"Don't put it back in!" Tony stated.

"What's wrong?" Pepper asked with fear.

"He's going into cardiac arrest!" I strained, pulling on my hair.

"What?! I thought you said this was safe!" Pepper stated, shaking her hands at Tony.

"We gotta hurry, take this," Tony spoke as he handed Pepper the new arc reactor. "Bashira, help Pepper with this, please."

I nodded quickly, making my way to the other side of the of the chair as both Pepper and I grasped the arc reactor in our hands.

"It's going to be okay Tony, we're going to make this okay." Pepper assured the man.

The two of us worked together as he gently brought the wire in the back of the arc reactor down the socket, and hooked it up to the end before inserting the rest of the device in.

Tony took a huge gasp of air, followed by a scream as the harsh beeping stopped, slowing down and going off more calmly. He relaxed, looking over at the both of us. "Now was that so hard?"

"Are you okay?" Pepper asked with a whisper, the inorganic plasma all over her fingers.

"Yeah, I feel great." Tony assured him.

I deeply sighed with relief, resting my head on his right side. I could hear Tony's laughter as he moved his hand, placing it on my head as he ruffled my hair.

"Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ask me to do anything like that again." Pepper stated.

"I second that." I added with a muffle.

"... I don't have anyone else but you two." Tony spoke up.

There was silence in the room as I slowly lifted my head up look up at the man. Pepper also stood still, looking at her boss with shock.

Tony smirked at her before patting me on the back. That must have been a signal for me to move. As I stepped back, Tony sat himself up straight, removing the wires from his chest as Pepper worked frantically to shake the ooze off of her fingers. I picked up a towel from the table, handing it over to Tony as he used it to wipe his face.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Pepper asked the man, holding up the old miniature arc reactor.

"That?" Tony glanced over, looking down at it. "Destroy it."

"Really?" I asked him with surprise.

"You don't want to keep it?" Pepper added.

"Pepper, Bashira, I've been called many things. Nostalgic is not one of them." Tony replied.

"Will that be all Mr. Stark?" Pepper asked.

"That will be all Miss Potts." Tony smiled.

"Okay." Pepper smiled back as she turned around, making her way out of the room.

I sighed, slouching in a nearby chair. "Well that was eventful."

"That didn't scare you, did it?" Tony asked me.

"Of course it did!" I stated, sitting up as I looked over at him.

"It's okay, it's all over now." he shushed, wrapping his arms around me, rocking me side to side.

"Tony..." I mumbled with a chuckle.

"Alright," he released me, ruffling my hair once more. "Go upstairs, finish your school report and I'll order us some Chinese for dinner. Sound good?"

"Sure!" I smiled.

I hoped no more weird things would happen today. But knowing Tony Stark, I had a feeling that it wouldn't exactly last long.