Yay for new series'. Alright, so this is the first of I don't know how many chapters detailing the misadventures of Darcy Stark's life. Yes, this is the one where she grows up with Tony as her active father. It is spun off my More-Than-She-Seems stuff and partially inspired by some stuff from MissCora over on Archive Of Our Own.

A quick word of warning: I've taken liberties with the DNA testing stuff I mention in this. Yes, I know it takes far longer to receive a DNA test than is being portrayed. I know between extraction and sequencing without the comparison stuff it takes at least three days if pushing it, five days in reality. The internet plus classes in forensic anthropology and a degree in archaeology teach you some amazing things. This is fiction though, so I'm reserving the right to take a few liberties.

As always, my work/school schedule is insane so I don't know how fast these updates will go. I apologize for any long waits.

I do not own anything related to Marvel, period. I probably wouldn't be a graduate student if I did.

Also, a major 'thank you' to HeroInTraining who is now my acting beta/editor.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this!

- Illusinia

Chapter 1: The Birth/Discovery of Darcy Stark

A ringing phone wasn't an abnormality, especially when you are the personal assistant of the one and only Tony Stark. However, a ringing phone at 7:30 in the morning when the office is not even open is strange. Apparently, Pepper wasn't getting her quite time that morning.

"Hello, Stark Industries," greeted Pepper. "How may I help you?"

The voice on the other end of the connection sounded more than a little uneasy. "Um, I'm looking for Mr. Tony Stark please?"

"This is the office of Tony Stark," assured Pepper. "My name is Virginia Potts, assistant to Mr. Stark. May I help you with something?"

"Perhaps," admitted the man. "My name is Dr. Samuel Tarsen, I'm a OBGYN at Mainstand Hospital in Tucson, Arizona."

Pepper felt her blood freeze. This couldn't be good, especially given Tony had been in Arizona nine months ago. "Alright."

"I had a patient here who gave birth to a little girl about 12 hours ago," explained Tarsen. "She told the nurse entering the child's information that Anthony Stark was the child's father. Unfortunately, she died shortly after giving birth from complications."

Pepper could feel her head starting to spin. Her boss, Tony Stark, playboy genius billionaire and probably the most irresponsible person she'd ever met, had a child. "Where is the child now?"

"In our nursery," replied Tarsen. "The reason I'm attempting to contract Mr. Stark is that the child is going to be put up for adoption."

"What?" breathed Pepper, shocked.

She heard Tarsen shift some papers around. "The mother's family has no interest in keeping the child. They wanted to put her up for adoption immediately, but I've blocked them temporarily. The girl was born about a month premature and, with her mother having died from complications, I want to keep her for observation."

"How long is she being kept for?" asked Pepper, who was already scrambling to gather her things together. "And what was the name of her mother?"

"Nancy Foster," informed Tarsen. "I'm assuming you wish to know to confirm she's actually been with Mr. Stark?"

Pepper nodded absentmindedly, then remembered she was on the phone. "I recall kicking her out the next morning so I could get Tony on a plane. I got her name in case she filed a complaint of some kind."

"A good move," agreed Tarsen mildly. "Miss. Potts, I can keep the child here for 72 hours under the reasoning of observation, but barring any complications I will have to release her into the custody of her material family unless Mr. Stark comes to claim paternity."

"I understand," assured Pepper. "I'll be out there in two hours. If you don't mind, I would like to come see the child and have a paternity test run before contacting Mr. Stark on this matter."

"Of course," agreed Tarsen. "I'll be sure to have something for the paternity test ready when you arrive."

"Thank you, Dr. Tarsen." Pepper threw the last of her papers into her bag and started thinking about what she could grab that would have some of Tony's DNA on it. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Miss. Potts."

Hanging up, Pepper stepped into the hall and crept up to Tony's room. Opening the door softly, she slipped inside and hurried to grab her boss's hairbrush. Hopefully there would be some kind of DNA that could be gathered from the strands stuck to the bristles. Though she didn't relish the idea of doing this without telling Tony, working for him for the past year and a half had taught her that some things were best done without Tony's knowledge until he absolutely need to know.

After confirming everything was packed, she hurried out the door to her car. Grabbing her cellphone, she dialed the number of the Burbank airport's ticket counter as she drove. "Hello, I need a ticket to Tucson, Arizona. The next hour. Right, that's perfect. Thank you."

Ticket secured, Pepper dialed Rhodey's number, leaving him a message requesting that he call her as soon as possible and contact Happy as well. It was very possible someone was going to need to drag Tony onto an airplane later. Calls made, Pepper allowed her mind to focus on the problem at hand. A daughter. Tony Stark had a daughter. God help the world.

Less than an hour after receiving the call, Pepper walked into the front lobby of Mainstand Hospital. It wasn't a particularly large hospital but everything looked clean and relatively nice given the size of the town. Without a second thought, Pepper strode up to the nurses station.

A large, kind looking woman glanced up as Pepper approached and offered her a soft smile. "Can I help you?"

Pepper nodded and shifted her purse uneasily. "I'm looking for Dr. Samual Taren. He works in the maternity ward."

"Of course, through the doors on the left. All the doctor's offices are down the first hallway on the right," directed the nurse.

"Thank you," muttered Pepper as she turned towards the doors.

Striding into the maternity ward, Pepper hadn't expected the quiet nature of the area that met her ears. However, she quickly focused on finding the hallway the nurse mentioned and locating Dr. Tarsen's office. It turned out to be far easier than Pepper had though it would be. The door itself was closed, but a sign taped to the front stated he was in the Nursery on the second floor. Five minutes later, Pepper was standing before the glass window that looked into the hospital's small nursery.

She spotted a man she suspected was Dr. Tarsen immediately, and he quickly waved her inside when he noticed her standing there.

"Miss Potts I'll assume?" asked the man with a smile. Pepper nodded and offered her hand, which the man took with a smile. "I'm Dr. Tarsen, as you may have guessed."

"It's good to meet you Doctor," greeted Pepper. "Do you have the sample?"

Dr. Tarsen nodded. "Of course. It's right here." Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a small envelope. "I took the liberty of sealing it already. I hope that's alright."

"Of course," assured Pepper as she removed an envelope from her bag. She'd already sealed and tucked the hairs from Tony into the bag, careful to make sure the tips which could offer DNA were attached. She took the other envelope and tucked it into the larger envelope, then tucked the packet into her bag again. "I have someone waiting downstairs to run this to a Stark lab in Phoenix. They're going to run the DNA today so we should know by tonight if Tony is indeed the father."

Dr. Tarsen nodded and motioned for Pepper to step back out of the nursery. "Why don't you run that to your guy. After that, if you like I can introduce you to the little girl."

"That would be great," admitted Pepper as she ducked out of the nursery. "I'll be right back."

The trip downstairs was as quick as it had been going up and her messenger was off to the lab in five minutes. It would take about two hours to get to Phoenix plus the time to run the tests. They would have the results that afternoon by her calculations.

Re-entering the hospital, Pepper traced her path back to the nursery. Dr. Tarsen was waiting at the door, a sympathetic smile on his face. "She's still in the intensive care unit, so we'll have to wash up before we can go in. There are sinks and soap down there, if you'll follow me."

"Of course," nodded Pepper, falling into step beside the doctor. "How is she doing? Health wise, that is."

Dr. Tarsen shrugged. "She seems to be perfectly healthy, if a bit on the small side. Sometimes that happens though. Premature birth doesn't necessarily mean there will be something wrong with the baby. Really, she's down there because her mother died from complications and we want to ensure she wasn't injured as well."

"That makes sense," murmured Pepper, her eyes focusing straight ahead. She could see the sign for the intensive care unit.

"Right this way," directed Dr. Tarsen as he held open the door to the unit. "Use the sink to your left to wash your hands and lower arms, then put on a set of the scrubs hanging by the door and we can go in."

Pepper did as directed, washing her arms well and blessing the fact that she'd put on a tank top that day. Next, she pulled a set of green scrubs on and watched Dr. Tarsen do the same. He gave her an encouraging smile as he held open the second door so Pepper could step into the unit itself.

The lighting inside was low, probably to keep from bothering any of the children therein. Incubators were scattered around the room, infants of various sizes tucked inside. A short line of plastic baskets sat near the back which Dr. Tarsen turned towards immediately. Coming to the last of the baskets, he checked the monitors, then carefully lifted the infant inside from her sleeping place.

She was wrapped in a pink blanket, squishy faced but not as red as most infants Pepper had seen. Unlike most of her companions, this little girl was also wide awake. Blue eyes identical to Tony's own landed on Pepper almost immediately and a faint smile pulled at the small child's lips.

Carefully, Pepper reached out and stroked the child's cheek. "She's beautiful. I'm not sure the paternity test was really necessary though. Those are Stark eyes, as Tony likes to call them."

Dr. Tarsen chuckled. "Well, I would need the test results anyway to release her into Mr. Stark's care." He paused for a moment, examining the infant in his arms, then drawing his eyes back up to Pepper. "Miss Potts, if I may ask, what do you think the chances are that Mr. Stark will want to keep his daughter?"

Pepper sighed and shook her head, finger sliding down to rest in the child's palm. "With Tony its hard to say. But, I think that if given the chance he'd want to at least know he had a child. It sounds strange, but I've seen him with children before. Two kids who live next door to him accidentally lost their ball in his yard once. Not only did he return it, he showed them how to throw it better and spent several hours playing with them." Pepper paused, weighing what she knew of Tony with what she'd seen. "I think that Tony wants children of his own to some degree. The better question is if he wants them now."

Dr. Tarsen gave Pepper a soft smile and nodded to the infant. "Would you like to hold her?"

"May I?" asked Pepper softly, arms extending to take the child. As Dr. Tarsen lay the infant in her arms, Pepper knew instantly that, if Tony decided not to keep his daughter, she would apply to adopt her. Yes she was young and perhaps it was a rash thing to do, but the infant was perfect in so many ways that Pepper didn't want to let her go. "Doctor, I know she hasn't been named but do you have anything you call her?"

"No, we haven't found anything to call her by except 'Baby Stark' at this point," admitted Dr. Tarsen. "We aren't permitted to give names to the infants who don't have them."

Pepper nodded. "May I give her a temporary one then?"

"Certainly," agreed Dr. Tarsen. "I rather dislike not having a name to call an infant by. If someone else makes it up, I can still use it."

"Alright," whispered Pepper. "How about Darcy?"

In her arms, the little girl cooed happily and nuzzled against Pepper.

"She likes it," murmured Dr. Tarsen as he picked up the little girl's chart. "It looks like she has a feeding coming up. Would you like to feed her, Miss Potts?"

Pepper looked surprised. "Isn't that against the rules?"

Dr. Tarsen shrugged. "The child's family has shown no interest in her and allowing you to do it really isn't any different than having a nurse do it."

Pepper nodded softly. "Alright. I'd like that."

It was almost 5 pm when Rhodey threw open the door to Tony Stark's bedroom and started throwing back the curtains. He'd gotten a call from Pepper less than twenty minutes ago telling him to drag Tony out of bed and throw him on a Stark plane to Tucson, Arizona. Tony groaned unhappily in his bed, pulling a pillow over his head and muttered something about 'five more minutes Pep!'.

Rhodey just tsked. "I'm pretty sure I should be insulted. Pepper is way to feminine for someone to mix us up."

Tony shot up quickly at the sound of his friend's voice. "Rhodey? Where's Pepper?"

"Arizona," replied Rhodey in his no-nonsense tone that usually got the recruits doing what he wanted them to. "Which is where we're going too. She has someone out there you need to meet."

One of Tony's eyebrows rose. "And that would be...?"

"A surprise," finished Rhodey, who threw the first shirt and pair of pants he could find that looked relatively clean at Tony.

Tony groaned but started to pull on the offered clothes none the less. "Damn, that woman is a task driver."

"She got the call about this at 7:30 this morning. If she wanted, she could have dragged you out there then," pointed out Rhodey as he turned away so Tony could dress in relative privacy.

"True," sighed Tony as he stood from the bed, scratching his head a little. "So, do I have time to eat?"

"Food's in the car," replied Rhodey as he tossed a pair of shoes at Tony and walked out the door. "Now get moving."

Tony grumbled and groaned the whole way to the airport, despite the coffee and doughnuts which Rhodey had brought for him. They boarded a Stark Jet with Tony still whining about surprise business trips and the like but Rhodey tuned his friend out. He was used to the griping. What he was more worried about was Pepper's call. She'd sounded different and the fact that she wouldn't explain why she was at the hospital in Tucson worried him. Pepper was good for Tony, she kicked his ass in the best way possible and kept him at least marginally out of trouble. Hopefully, the woman was okay.

They landed in Tucson within the hour and reached the hospital in fifteen minutes. Tony quieted as soon as he saw the sign, face drawing tight. Rhodey stiffened himself, worried about what could be going on.

As soon as the car had stopped Tony was out of the door and walking rapidly into the hospital, though he changed to strolling casually once he was inside. The air of deserved cockiness floated around him heavily as he leaned on the nurses desk. "Hey, hi there. I'm looking for a red-headed woman, about, oh, ya high," he made a hand motion at about where Pepper's head would be, "blue eyes, pale, probably in a business suit..."

The nurse nodded calmly. "You're looking for Miss Potts. She's upstairs in maternity. Through the doors on the left and one floor up. I think Dr. Tarsen said she was in the nursery."

Watching Tony pale like he did was almost worth all the whining the man had done getting there. Payback was apparently a bitch, though Rhodey was wondering what the hell Pepper would be doing in Maternity. The woman definitely hadn't been pregnant.

Tony uttered a hurried 'thanks' and bolted through the doors. Rhodey could hear him rocketing up the stairs to the second floor. "Uh, thank you ma'am."

The nurse smiled softly. "Your welcome."

Rhodey nodded and passed through the doors himself, albeit slower than Tony. Not that Rhodey was in any hurry to get upstairs. The thought of what might await him was frightening.

Tony practically ran down a man as he crashed through the stair-way doors and into the second-floor hall.

The man in question caught Tony easily around the shoulder and pushed him into a wall. "Easy now buddy, what's the rush?"

"I need to find someone," replied Tony, who was definitely frightened now. "Her names Pepper. Pepper Potts."

His captor smiled softly and released Tony. "Ah, you must be Tony. Miss Potts is in the nursery. They moved Darcy there about an hour ago."

"Darcy?" asked Tony as the full force of what was happening struck him. His head began to spin. "Who's Darcy?"

However, the man just smiled. "I think I'll let Miss Potts explain that to you. You'll find her through the first door down the hall on the right hand side."

"Right," muttered Tony as he broke away from the man and headed for the aforementioned door.

Behind him, he didn't see the man who had caught him sigh or hear him mutter something about 'she was right'.

Instead, Tony focused on the door he needed, even though he paused outside for just a moment. Glancing through the glass, he could see Pepper holding a small pink-wrapped bundle near the back of the room. Shit. Taking a deep breath, Tony sealed himself and stepped through the door.

Pepper looked up as she heard Tony enter, a soft smile on her face. "Tony, there you are. I was wondering if Rhodey had managed to get you out of bed or not."

"Yeah, he got me up," muttered Tony distractedly. "You never mentioned you were pregnant Pep. Does the dad know?"

Pepper shook her head with a sigh. "Tony, if I was pregnant you would have known. Trust me." Looking back down at the bundle in her arms, she smiled at the infant and stood calmly. "Besides Tony, she isn't mine. At least not yet, and she won't be if her father wants her."

"Her father?" asked Tony uneasily. "Pep, are you implying what I think you're implying but at the same time am kinda hoping you aren't implying?"

Sighing again, Pepper moved towards Tony and tilted the bundle so he could see the infant inside. A pair of blue eyes identical to his own looked back at him curiously, mouth open slightly as if she were amazed by the sight of him. "Tony, this is your daughter. She was born almost 24 hours ago. If you want her, you can have her. A paternity test confirmed you're her father. If you don't want her, she'll be put up for adoption."

Tony nodded slowly. "So the part about her not being your daughter yet..."

"If she is put up for adoption, I intend to attempt to adopt her," confirmed Pepper. In her arms, the infant snuggled closer.

Tony couldn't help it, the sight made him smile. "So, she's really mine huh?"

Pepper nodded softly. "Yes."

"And no matter what I decide, she'll probably be in my life?" continued Tony, smile growing into a grin as he reached out with a hand to stroke Darcy's cheek.

"Most likely," confirmed Pepper firmly.

Tony shrugged. "Well, that decides it then. Where do I sign to take her home?"

Pepper's eyes grew wide. "Really Tony? Just like that?"

Tony nodded, grin still in place. "Sure. She's my kid after all and no matter what she's going to be around so I might as well just keep her. That way at least I can have some say about her life."

"Tony," groaned Pepper, but there was a smile in her voice. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Can I?" asked Tony with surprise. "Better question, is that smart? This is me after all and I'm not the most careful person in the wor-"

"Tony," interrupted Pepper, "I've seen you handle blown glass that could shatter from the slightest vibration without breaking it. I'm sure its a good idea. Now, sit down." Tony obeyed, taking the seat Pepper had previously occupied. "Good, now lay one arm under her body and wrap the other around her. Be careful to support her head, she can't lift it on her own yet."

"Right," muttered Tony as Pepper lowered the baby into his arms. The little girl looked up at him immediately, eyes examining him the same way he often examined parts or machinery. Her mouth moved a little and she smiled slightly as he rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb. "Hey kid, guess what? I'm your dad. Now, there are a few things we need to get straight. I'm a genius and, aside from you, unattached, so you might see some random women around the house sometimes. But don't worry, no matter what you are my number one girl. And I mean that." Tony's voice softened as he took in the infant he was holding. "You're my baby girl and no matter what you will always be the number one girl in my life. Got it?"

The infant hiccuped a little, then giggled. One of her hands rose towards Tony's face, gently patting his cheek. The action made Tony grin so wide Pepper wondered if his face would split in two.

"Hey Pep, how do you feel about moving in with me?" offered Tony just as Rhodey walked through the door.

The military man choked. "Uh, did I miss something? Should I come back?"

Pepper laughed softly and shook her head. "No Rhodey, you're fine. Tony is just delirious, either with happiness or fear."

Rhodey looked at Tony and the infant in his arms. A soft groan followed. "Dear god, so the kid is his?"

"I'm afraid so," sighed Pepper.

"God help us all," muttered Rhodey as he watched Tony make faces at his daughter. "Tony Stark is a father."