‘What the fuck is my life’
Meet Rhiannon Lloyd. She’s been The Quiet Kid™ all her damn life, and frankly, she despises it. Long before she knew she was autistic, other kids hated her for being different. She never understood what she was doing wrong, and call her bitter all you like but she still thinks about it a lot.
It's not that different now, really. She’s still a “friendless weirdo”, to quote her former peers. But it is better, for a few reasons. One: she graduated high school at sixteen and got a full-ride scholarship to Columbia University (thanks to her natural affinity for engineering). And two: her so-called ‘mother’ lives on the other side of the country, and accommodation is included in her scholarship. Dorm life isn’t perfect, but her roommate isn’t an abusive alcoholic so can she really complain?
In case it wasn’t clear, no – Rhia and her mother do not get along. The woman was hateful enough to leave bruises on her daughter’s body every other day. What she ever did to deserve it, she doesn’t know. But that’s two years in the past now, so she’s trying and failing to move on.
That brings us to a chilly morning in New York, and Rhia is surprised to find that she has a letter addressed to her, from Stark Industries of all places.
Her shock is alleviated slightly when she remembers the competition, entered a few months ago. ‘It’s probably a rejection letter’ the teenager says to herself, with her usual pessimistic attitude.
Hello Miss Rhiannon Lloyd.
Thank you for your entry into SI’s annual competition, Engineers of Tomorrow.
We were very impressed with the project you submitted, and believe you could have a promising future with our company.
Hence, I am very pleased to offer you a paid internship in our R & D Department.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries
It was definitely not a rejection letter.
*Time skip brought to you by One Direction*
She was so nervous her hands couldn’t keep still. ‘Oh God, what if I can’t stop stimming and the other interns notice. I don’t want them to notice me.’ She was starting to regret entering that competition, but this train of thought was immediately stopped when she remembered that she’ll get paid (she really wants to move out of the dorms, but libraries don’t exactly pay very much).
Finally, the moment came. She was about to enter Stark Tower. Wait, no, it's the Avengers Tower and that is SO much worse. ‘Breathe Rhia. Just keep your head down and work hard. You’ll be fine.’ As expected, her little internal pep talk didn’t do much good.
Stepping over the threshold after that moment of contemplation, she was soon greeted by an employee.
‘Hi, I’m Gwen! You must be the new intern!’ Gwen seemed very friendly in the intense, excited puppy way. Rhia wanted this conversation to end already, but she did her best to hide this.
‘Yes, ma'am. I’m Rhiannon Lloyd.’ Rhia replied quietly.
With a warm smile, Gwen guided her through all the introductory procedures. Once the paperwork and whatnot was out of the way, she told Rhia to head to the 14th floor to meet her supervisor – David Groves.
Thankfully, everything ran smoothly from there. She met David and the interns, found her work station, then got started on a project. It wouldn’t be until a few weeks into her internship that things would start get interesting.
*SpongeBob narrator voice: A fEw WeEkS lAtEr*
Much to Pepper’s annoyance, it has probably been at least 24 hours since Tony left his lab, let alone slept. But he doesn’t care, because sleep is for the weak and coffee is the drink of the Gods.
‘Sir, Miss Potts has asked me to tell you that you must get your ass down to floor 14 and greet the interns at once’ FRIDAY said, in her usual calm, melodic voice.
‘But Friiiii,’ he whined, ‘why can’t Pep do it? Or literally anyone else?’
‘Miss Potts suspected you would ask this, and said it’s your damn company and I’m busy running it.’
So, Tony made his way down, grumbling the entire way there in the elevator.
In the meantime, Rhia was working happily. For once, she had the equipment she needed to actually start making her designs. That’s why she wasn’t very happy to be interrupted by a loud voice coming out of the elevator.
‘David! How’s life, buddy. The interns giving you grief?’ Oh shit, that’s Tony fucking Stark. Shit. Fuck. Damnit. She was not mentally prepared for this, goddamn.
‘M-Mr Stark!’ The supervisor stuttered. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’
‘Don’t be dumb, Dave (AN: Lol alliteration). I love meeting the interns! Thought I might check in and see what they’re working on.’ Seems unlikely, Rhia thought. He strikes her as the asocial type of boss, not one who chats to his employees on a regular basis.
‘Of course, boss. G-go ahead.’ With that, Tony began to walk around the room and ask everyone about their work. If he really didn’t want to be here, he was doing a good job at hiding it. Amidst her speculation, Rhia didn’t realize that Stark was approaching her.
‘Geez, you look young. I guess we’re hiring children now, huh. Wait, was that rude? Whatever, let’s move on. What’s the name and the game, kid?’
After nearly jumping 10 feet in the air at the billionaire’s unexpected voice behind her, she managed to stammer out ‘Uh, sorry sir, but what – uh, what do you mean?’
‘Kid,’ the man laughed, ‘I’m asking about your name and what you’re working on.’
‘Right, sorry.’ She replied, already annoyed with herself. ‘My name’s Rhiannon Lloyd, sir. Rhia is fine, too. And you can take a look at my notes if you want. I’m nearly ready to make a prototype for this.’ Rhia was happy to let him read it. After all, it would be easier than trying to talk out loud.
He accepted the offer, and took a few minutes to read over her work. ‘This is incredible, kid! How old did you say you were?’ He asked, stunned at the young intern’s talent. ‘Eighteen, sir.’ Rhia admitted shyly.
‘Ha, we hired a child prodigy! But seriously kid, this is really impressive.’ And before the girl could process what was happening, Stark did something that was very much unexpected.
‘You know what, your talent is wasted down on this level, and Pepper is always going on about the importance of nurturing young minds, so what would do you say you work with Brucie-bear and I? Kinda like a personal intern. I’ve already got one about your age and he could use a friend, honestly. Pete spends way too much time hanging out with grown-ass adults.’
‘Sir, I- I don’t know what to-’ Rhia started, but was quickly interrupted. ‘Great! Grab your stuff and meet me up in my lab in ten. Fri will make sure you don’t get lost, won’t you sweetheart.’
‘Of course, sir.’ The AI said. Rhia was sure she was mistaken, but she swore she heard fond amusement in Friday’s voice. Was that even possible?
Okay, well, that just happened. What. The Fuck.