Pepper Potts sat in her office on the phone. She noticed a women sitting in the lobby that she didn't notice. She had medium blond hair, blue eyes, and freckled skin. She wore a pair of jeans with a green t-shirt. When Pepper hung up the phone the women took notice and got up from her seat and headed towards Pepper's office. The door was made of glass so the woman could see Pepper staring at her. The woman knocked at the door. Pepper waved her in and she opened the door.
"Can I help you?"
"I'm your 3 o'clock."
The women looked down at her watch. The time read 2:45.
"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't realize I was this early. Do you want me to come back?"
"No. It's fine."
The woman sat down in the chair that was in front of Pepper's desk. She crossed her legs and leaned into the chair to get comfortable. Pepper waited for the woman to start talking. The woman on the other hand wasn't sure how to start the conversation. Time passed with neither of them saying a word. Pepper decided that even though the woman knew her name she would introduce herself to break the ice.
"You already know this but I'm Pepper Potts."
"I'm Samantha Cain but you can call me Sam."
"It's nice to meet you Sam. What is it that you needed to see me about?"
Pepper looked at her schedule.
"It doesn't say in my schedule what you wanted to discuss."
"I didn't want to say it over the phone because I'm not sure if it's true."
"Ok, explain."
"It's a long story but I'll start at the beginning."
Pepper sat back in her chair.
"A few months ago I was cleaning out my mother's attic where I found a note from my mother. See I never knew who my father was and in the note it explained everything to me. The note explained who my father was and why she never told me who he was."
"And what does this have to do with me?"
"Well in the note it said that my father was Howard Stark."
Pepper was skeptical of this woman. They had just met and she was proclaiming that Tony's father had an illegitimate child and that Tony had a sister.
"Can I see the note?"
Sam handed the noted to Pepper. She read over the noted and it did state that Howard Stark was her father. The noted also explained that the mother kept her father identity from her because it was a one night affair and her mother didn't want to make a fuss about it. Even though Pepper has seen the note she was still skeptical of what the woman was saying. Pepper looked up at the woman.
"The noted does say what you are saying. But…"
"I know it's unlikely but I just need to know the truth. I never had a father growing up and if the note is correct then even though I will never be able to meet my father I'll have a brother. I have no family and I just want to have a family again…. I just need to know if it is true. If the note is false then I will leave and never come back."
Pepper could understand where Sam was coming from. She herself doesn't have any family left and if she found out she had a brother she would want to know. Even though she was skeptical at first she could tell by the look in Sam's face that she truly believed what the noted said.
"All we can do is test your blood and see if you are in fact Howard Stark's daughter."
"I know this a lot to ask but can we keep this test from Tony Stark. I don't want to meet him unless the note is true. I don't want to get my hopes up just in case the note is false."
"I don't know if I can do that. If you are related to Tony I think he should know."
"Can't we just wait till the blood tests come back?"
Pepper thought it over.
"Well…. If we draw the blood now and get it into the lab right away we could get the results sooner."
"Will you be taking my blood?"
"I don't usually do things like that."
"You are the only one I trust."
"Well I guess I can make an exception."
They went down to a lab so Pepper could draw Sam's blood. No one was in the lab and so Pepper grabbed a needle and was about to draw Sam's blood. Before Pepper could get the needle in Sam's arm she stopped her.
"Is something wrong?"
"I need to tell you one more thing before we do this…. I have an ability and in order to give you an accurate blood sample I need to use it."
Pepper wondered what she was talking about. Then it occurred to her that she was dating Iron Man and he was a member of the Avengers which consists of people with special abilities. She realized that anything was possible.
"Ok."
Before her eyes the woman with medium blond hair, blue eyes, and freckled skin turned into a women with long black curly hair with porcelain skin and emerald green eyes. Pepper was taken aback by the change.
"Don't be afraid… this is what I truly look like. I came in disguise for a reason and I'll explain to you a little later."
Pepper decided to trust her because Sam had reviled her secret to her. After all someone wouldn't divulge their ability unless they trusted the person they were divulging it to. Pepper took Sam's blood and started the tests that were needed. Afterwards Sam transformed back into the blond blue eyed woman she was before. They left the lab and went back to her office.
When they first went back to the office they sat in silence. However, Pepper was wondering why Sam was in disguise.
"So you said you would explain why you are disguised."
"Well it is kind of a long story."
Pepper got on the phone with her secretary. She told her secretary to cancel all her appointments for the rest of the day. When she was off the phone she turned to Sam.
"You have as much time as you need to explain."
The two women got comfy in the chair they were sitting. Sam hesitated for a moment before decided to tell Pepper the story.
"I didn't always have this ability. When I was 13 I was sent to a boarding school. It was supposed to be a school that was really good and for people who couldn't afford to go to a good school. Well the school seemed fine at first. We did all the regular classes but two months into schooling we had to have a vaccine because supposedly there was a bad flu going around. I figured the school knew what they were doing so I got the vaccine. Some of the students got sick after they were vaccinated and they were sent home. The ones who didn't get sick stayed at the school. We were told that the vaccination required a few shots so a few months after the first shot they gave us another shot. So after the second shot I started to realize that I could shape shift. I was scared at first and I only told a friend of mine that I could shape shift. She told me that she could start fires with her mind. We had no idea that the vaccine gave us our abilities. We just thought we were special. At that time we didn't realize that other students were also getting abilities. When the adults found out that students were getting abilities everything changed. We were transported to a facility and we were locked in separate rooms. I tried to tell them that I never got an ability but they told me that if I didn't get sick from the first shot then I had to have an ability. I kept objected and they kept saying that I had to have gotten an ability. They must have figured that I never did get an ability and so they gave me another shot. I kept hiding my shape shifting ability from them so they kept giving me shots. They never did give up hope that one of the shots would give me an ability. I was there for two years. They let me write letters to my mother and call her on the phone but they told me that if I told her anything about the shots they would kill me. The guy who was the supposed principal told my mother that I couldn't come home because I needed to learn and going home would hurt my learning. My mother didn't question him because she trusted him. After I was there for two years when one of the teachers came to give me another shot I knocked him out and escaped. After I escaped I went back home. I told my mother everything. I was so afraid of the school that I knew I had to hide. My mom agreed so we approached one of her best friend Jean with an idea. Jean was my mother's best friend and she was like a second mother to me. What happed was a few months before I escaped her daughter Chloe had drown in the ocean during a fishing trip and her body was never found. She was my age and my mom asked if I could become Jean's daughter. I didn't want to do it because I would never be Sam Cain again. Plus, I knew asking to become her daughter was a huge favor. Jean didn't hesitate though. She knew I was in trouble and she wanted to protect me. I became Chloe in every way. I looked like her, I sounded like her, and everything else. The principle of the school came looking for me and he went to my mother. She pretended like she had never seen me. When she asked what happened they said I ran away. He presented my mother with a supposed note I had written that said I ran away with a boy. My mother pretended like she believed the note was true. However, I was living my life as Chloe Beckett. As days went by it became clearer and clearer that even though I was free my friends weren't. A month went by before I got the courage to go back to the facility to try and free my friends. However, I was too late and they had already moved them. Since then I have lived my life as Chloe and I haven't been myself in years."
Pepper was silent. The story of Sam's life depressed her. She wasn't able to be herself and instead she had to pretend that she was a completely different person. The teachers or whatever they were experimented on her and treated her like a lab rat. Pepper had been drawing close to Sam through the time they had been spending together. She knew that even if this woman wasn't Tony's sister she still needed to help her.
