Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any other Marvel characters. I only own my OC.
A/N: Hello everyone! A lot of people were asking me when this story takes places, and I would say it takes place after Civil war. Like I said before this story is sorta AU, so it's not gonna follow exactly everything that has happened within the movies. For the most part, but I might change a thing or two. I would advise you guys to just enjoy this little story and not worry so much. (: This chapter's short, but sweet.
Chapter 3: The boy with the warm brown eyes
After returning to the Tower and putting her book away in her room, Grace wasn't at all surprised when Friday informed her that her dad was in the lab. By now she knew the lab was like his second home. When she younger she sometimes felt her dad spent way too much time in there. As a little girl she used to get this fear of being abandoned by him because of his work. But now that she was older, she understand her dad better. Especially with the life changing events that happened in 2008. She and her dad weren't as close before then, but afterwards their relationship improved drastically. Since then she knew that he wasn't going to abandon her. He wasn't leaving her life then and he certainly wasn't now.
Making her way inside, Grace immediately heard Pink Floyd being played in the lab. She was a little taken back to see that her dad was the only one in there. Usually a disheveled Bruce Banner would be in the lab keeping him company as he did his own work. Or sometimes Jane Foster, an astrophysicists, would be in the lab as well, but that was only when Thor visited. So that explained her absence for the time being. But not Bruce's. Grace, however, just shrugged this off, assuming he was out today. God knows even a bright scientist needs a day off. Still, by now she had grown used to seeing the three scientists running around in the lab. Right now it was just her dad, and he wasn't running around. He instead was sitting down at one of his desks and all of his attention was on whatever device he was working on.
"Eh, what's the diagnosis, doc?" Grace asked trying her best to sound like Bugs Bunny. In her opinion she nailed the impersonation.
The music completely stopped when Tony dropped whatever he was doing. Spinning his chair around, he turned to face her. He then did a dramatic like sigh. "I say they'll live." After saying that he took notice of what she was wearing. "Pepper said you went out to buy a book?"
"Yeah." The teen said, sounding like herself again. "I went incognito." She informed her dad. She wasn't wearing those silly sunglasses anymore, but she still had on the rest of her outfit. Beanie included.
"Yeah, I got that." Tony said nodding his head. He knew that whenever his daughter went out to the public, and it wasn't for a event she needed to attend, that she much preferred to be in disguise. Grace wasn't one for the public eye. She was an introvert. The complete opposite of him. He kept the optimistic thought that as she grew older she would get passed her fear of the public. But at fifteen she still avoided attention whenever given the chance. He felt bad because most of the attention was because of him and the last name that was given to him from birth, but that was the curse of being a Stark. Constant attention on one self. And that was something that Grace was burden with when he got guardianship over her. Constant attention by others was something he couldn't change, no matter how much he wanted to for her. "How did it go?" He asked her. wanting to clear from his brooding thoughts. "You get what you wanted?"
"I did, and everything went well." Grace answered deciding not to tell him about the rude older girl she had encountered. "I brought us back sandwiches." She told him showing the to go bag she had with her. "I ordered you the number one special they had. Same as me. I hope you like it."
Tony waved his hand. "Thanks, and you know I'm not picky with food. Especially when you order it. You have good taste. Just as long as the sandwich doesn't have―"
"Mayo." Grace easily finished for him. She then shuddered and made a face of disgust. "Gross."
Tony looked proud. He waved a finger at her. "That right there is why you're my daughter. The mutual dislike we have for mayo binds us together."
Grace playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's the only reason why."
"Well that along with your natural good looks that you inherited from me." Tony said with a grin.
"So, what are you working on?" Grace asked deciding to move on the conversation. She walked closer to where her dad was at. On the table he was sitting near there was two strange identical looking devices. She looked at them with curiosity. "They're odd looking? Cool, but odd. What are they?"
Tony's eyes brighten with her puzzled look of wonderment she had on. "These my darling daughter are Spider-Man's wrist web-shooters."
"They are?" Grace questioned with awe. Once the shock wore off she tilted her head. "So you're fixing them?" She asked as she stared at such devices. Sure she had seen many superhero devices before, but these web-shooters were cool looking.
"Eh, I'm making sure the extra features I put in are working before giving it back to Spidey." Tony easily explained to her. A mischievous smile then appeared on his face. "You want to see something cool?" He suddenly asked her.
Not at all noticing the smile he had on, Grace nodded her head. "Sure." She answered excitedly.
Tony grabbed one of the wrist web-shooters. He steadied his arm before aiming up the device in front of him. "Okay, keep your eye on the soda can that's across from us." He told his daughter and then pressed the button activating the release of the spider webbing.
Grace was completely thrown off when she saw how the spider webbing jumped off the soda can after it had knocked it down. She and her dad barely got out of the way, ducking downwards towards the ground as the webbing passed over their heads. It hit the lab walls making it go all over the place. She had to admit, no matter how strange it was, that it was a comical scene that reminded her of the movie Flubber. She finally stood up when the webbing stopped moving around. She let out a relieved sigh when she noticed the sandwiches weren't ruined. She had to look around for a few seconds before she finally saw where the webbing had stopped at. It ended up stopping near another lab table not that far away from them. Grace was just glad there wasn't any glass objects on said table that could have been broken.
Slightly wide eyed and still somewhat muddled, Grace looked at her dad. "What the hell was that?!" She exclaimed. She expected to see spider webbing but not spider webbing that bounced off of every surface it hit.
Standing up as well, Tony dusted himself. Grace noticed that he didn't look shocked, just thoughtful. "Oops, that would be the ricochet webbing. It was supposed to shoot out normal webbing." He gave mild shrug. "Guess I need to tweak a few things. Hmm..."
"Yeah think?" Grace asked rhetorically. "Geez, dad, that thing went all over the place."
"Well it's supposed to, sweetie. Hence ricochet." Tony said and then patted her head. He laughed when she gently pushed away his hand from her. When he saw the small worried look she had, he decided to clear things out for her. "Don't worry, sure it's somewhat dangerous, but it's not lethal. It wouldn't actually kill anyone."
Grace felt better knowing this. However there was one thing she wanted to discuss. She steadied her eyes on her dad. "Still fix it before you give that back to Spider-Man and he ends up using it. Imagine his reaction."
Tony let out the famous Stark laugh at that thought. "Oh that would be hilarious! Underoos would be so surprised! Maybe I should just leave it as it is then."
Grace furrowed her eyebrows at that nickname. Underoos? Huh? She shook her head getting back on topic. "Dad." She said pointedly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Fine." He sighed in mock disappointment. "I'll fix it." He right away started to tinker with what needed to be adjusted on the device. Once done he glanced towards his daughter. To ensure that he did fix it he activated the wrist web-shooter. This time the webbing released normally and did not ricochet. He stared at his daughter. "Happy?"
"Yes." Grace answered with a smile.
"You know sometimes you act more like an adult than me." Tony commented playfully. "It's astonishing really."
Grace scoffed. She knew he joking, but still resisted the urge to full on smile. "Me? Please, anyone can act more like an adult than you."
Tony looked up and lifted his arms up in the air. "I'm saying it now, my daughter is a thirty year old stuck in a fifteen year old's body." He said to no one in general. When he looked at her again, he lowered his arms. A grin then appeared on his face at how done she looked with his teasing.
"Haha." Grace faked laugh. Her lips though wanted to form into a smile. "So are we gonna eat or what?" She asked as she held up the the to go bag again.
Tony made his way towards her. "Don't need to tell me again."
And she didn't.
About a half hour later found both Starks in the lab, only this time their stomachs were full with the delicious lunch they just had.
"Oh my God." Tony said looking at the now empty to go box, open mouthed. How he wished it wasn't empty. "That was indeed the most delicious sandwich I have ever had. Hands down. Amazing."
Grace, who was sitting next to him, hummed in agreement. "I give it a ten out of ten. Yelp was definitely right about this place."
"Where did you go to anyways?" Tony asked, curious. He needed to know where she bought these sandwiches. They were just so good. How could he...a New York resident not know about a place that makes these amazing sandwiches. It was ludicrous.
Grace went to explain. "Oh, I went to this small place in Qu―"
"Sir." Friday's voice interrupted. "You have a visitor in the main floor."
"Who is it?" Tony asked his A.I.
"Peter Parker."
Tony snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh, that's right! He's here to pick up his web shooters. Send him up to the main living room and tell him I'm on my way." He told his A.I.
"Yes, Mr. Stark."
Grace's eyes widen at what her dad said. "Wait, Spider-Man is here?" She didn't mean to sound so excited, but she couldn't help how her voice rose with interest. Spider-Man was one of the superheros she hadn't met yet, and if he was here at the Tower, why wouldn't she use this chance to meet him? She of course told herself to mentally calm down. She knew from experience how overbearing people can be. The last thing she wanted was to annoy Spider-Man. She still felt foolish with how she acted like a total fan when she was younger whenever she was around Captain America. She inwardly cringed. Never again.
Tony took in how excited and curious his daughter. True he shouldn't have said anything regarding Spider-Man's identity, but this was Grace. The girl who had known about this superhero nonsense since she was six. If there was anyone he absolutely trusted other than Pepper, it was her. The teen was completely trust worthy. And anyways it wasn't like he could lie his way out of this one. He sighed. "Yes, he is."
Grace looked sheepish. "Can I meet him?" She asked almost shyly.
Tony hesitated. He was okay with her knowing who was Spider-Man, but did he want her to meet him? The pout she had on though was what finalized his decision. Damn her for using such powers against him. "Fine..." He said giving in.
Grace jumped from her seat. "Thanks, dad!" She said as she hugged him.
Even though Tony tried to appear nonchalant, the truth was inside he was basking in the hug. "Yeah, yeah." He said as he returned it. After a few seconds he pulled away. "Let's go, Underoos is probably have a show right now." He told her as he grabbed the wrist web-shooters.
Grace was about to question why that was, but mess the webbing cost caught her attention. "Wait, shouldn't we clean that up?" She asked, pointing to where the spider webbing was at. She looked at such mess with a puzzled expression. She wasn't one for messes, and neither was her dad. He wasn't a total neat freak, but he liked to keep things in check. And anyways this was his lab, if there was one place her dad liked to keep clean and organized it was his lab. But to her bemusement he didn't look bothered by the mess he had accidentally caused.
"Nah, it'll dissolve in about two hours." Tony said nonchalantly. His voice then took a more up beat tone. "Now do you want to meet Spidey or not?"
Not holding back this time, with a smile on her face Grace followed her dad.
Once they were in the elevator Grace decided to ask her dad the question that had been pestering her. "Hey dad, why do you call Spider-Man, Underoos?"
Tony grinned. "Do I really need to explain why I call him that?"
Grace just shook her head in amusement. "You and your nicknames. I still can't get over how you call Clint, Katniss or Legolas."
"Psh, they should be happy that I gave them nicknames. My nicknames are awesome." Tony said as he leaned against the elevator wall.
"Says you." Grace retorted with a smile.
"My say is all that matters, sweetie." Tony quickly replied back to her.
Grace didn't answer back, but instead released a amused smile. It was one Tony was able to see for himself making him feel good about lifting his daughter's spirits more than it already was.
Pretty soon Friday informed them that they were at the main living floor. Grace was filled with excitement, but inwardly calmed herself. Once the elevator doors open, she let her dad exit first. She then followed close behind him. Letting her eyes wander the living room she expected to right away see this Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, but it wasn't until her dad spoke up that she finally caught sight of him.
"Ah, there you are Underoos. What the hell are you doing hiding behind my couch?"
Grace's expression became one of puzzlement. There awkwardly coming out of hiding behind the couch was the boy she had bumped into earlier. He gave them a wave and a sheepish smile.
This was Spider-Man? This boy? The boy with the warm brown eyes?
No...it couldn't be...could it?
Clearly it could.
Grace was still bewildered at such news. This feeling grew more when the boy shyly came closer towards them. She noticed as he did so how he was trying his hardest to make his staring at her discreet, but his red cheeks weren't helping him.
It was noticeable, and Grace wasn't the only one who was puzzled by this.
"What's with the staring?" Tony bluntly asked. Mainly towards Peter who was standing a few feet away. He narrowed his eyes at him. He was acting awkward. More so then usual. Something was up.
Both Peter and Grace lowered their gazes at such question. They both though were pretty much thinking the same thing.
Well, this is awkward.
