The One at the Beach

September 7, 2015

Natasha tried to encrypt and disguise her DNA search for Pepper with false names. It still made her a little paranoid. If Coulson caught her, it would be fine. If Fury or Hill caught her, there'd be problems. There was also no telling how long it would take for-

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It was too quick to find results already. She wasn't even sure she had finished searching the SHIELD files. Natasha read the name and cringed. She called Pepper up.

"I have some news. Are you free for lunch?" she asked and Pepper agreed to see her.

Pepper couldn't believe there was news so soon. She had only just asked her a couple of days ago. After placing her purse, she sat at the table and tried to be patient. Natasha ended up being late but she was used to it from years of practice with Tony.

"Tell me," Pepper said as soon as she came within earshot.

"You have a half-brother," Natasha told her as she sat down.

The words replayed themselves in Pepper's mind.

"I have a brother? I've never had a brother before. What's he like?" she asked.

"Well, I could set up a meeting between the two of you if you want," Natasha offered.

"Yes, as soon as possible. This is great," Pepper exclaimed.

"But he does look very different from you. I don't want you to be surprised. He's a really nice guy. I've worked with him before," Natasha told her. Pepper became more excited.

"I don't care what he looks like. He's my brother. I want to meet him," Pepper assured her. "I'm going to explain everything to Tony. This is so exciting."

It took a week to coordinate schedules but Natasha pulled it off. She also kept heading off questions about Pepper's parents. She never found any possibility for her dad and her mom was in a file only accessible to Level 9 and up although her half-brother's identity made that fairly obvious. Phil and Clint were on what could be best described as speaking terms. They could speak to each other although they tried their best not to unless there was no other choice. Natasha hated being in the middle. Neither was forcing her to choose between them but it meant that she was their preferred intermediary. Plus, Hill seemed to suspect that Natasha was up to something. With the brother seated beside her, she waited for Pepper to appear.

Pepper strode over to Natasha and the person beside her. It was a man yet his skin was blue. Was this her brother? She walked faster. The man looked a little shocked although it passed. Was it something about her expression?

"Pepper Potts, this is Kurt Wagner. Kurt Wagner, this is Pepper Potts. You have the same mother," Natasha told them.

"Yes," Kurt agreed with an odd expression on his face. Pepper wasn't sure whether to go for a hug or what was expected of her. She held out her hand and Kurt took it. Natasha was right about his looking different. He was blue with yellow eyes and sharp teeth.

"Sit," Natasha suggested and Pepper felt odd for not thinking of it. She sat down.

"Where were you born? When?" Pepper asked.

"I was born on January 27, 1965 in Austria. Like you, I was adopted but I was raised in the circus," Kurt explained in a German accent. Pepper felt awful. Had he been treated well? She knew Clint had some history with the circus that caused him not to like it. Her feelings must have been transparent. "No, I look fondly on my time there. People were more kind than not to me. I only had problems as I grew older. What about you?"

"Uh, September 27, 1973 in New York City if that's to be believed. They never told me I was adopted. I just found out a few years ago," Pepper explained.

"Is Pepper your given name?" Kurt asked and she laughed.

"No, it's Virginia but the last person I told that to...he tried to call me Ginny and I don't like that at all. Now, Steve knows better," she said with a laugh.

"Is Steve your boyfriend? Why Pepper?" Kurt asked.

"No, he's a colleague. Tony's my boyfriend. It's Pepper because of the freckles," she said and pointed at her face.

"I am glad no one calls me Blue," Kurt replied with a laugh.

"When I came up, you looked surprised. Why?" she asked. Kurt took a moment.

"At first, all I could see was that you were tall and blond. You looked very much like someone from my past that I do not want to ever come across again," Kurt spoke in a way that scared her a little bit. "But Tony is your boyfriend? I would like to meet this Tony and you should meet Amanda. She can't wait to meet you."

"Amanda?"

"Amanda is my wife," Kurt explained. Pepper felt a huge grin come over her face. She had a sister-in-law, too.

"Really? Any kids?" Pepper asked.

"Not yet," Kurt answered and shook his head. The smile seemed forced and she chastised herself for asking what seemed to be a sore point.

"Have you ever met our mom? What about your dad?" Pepper asked. Kurt frowned at this.

"I have met both. I don't want to meet them again. I know she is our mother but she is not worth it. She is a bad person. You're better off not knowing her," Kurt told her. She was shocked. It had never crossed her mind that their mother wasn't someone she wanted to know especially when she and Kurt seemed to have turned out so well.

"I like this," Sif proclaimed and held up her glass. "The Midgardians certainly know how to bring in a new year."

"I'm glad you were able to come," Thor told her. Jane clenched his hand tighter.

"Where is Loki?" Sif asked.

"I don't believe he is coming tonight," Thor spoke. He and Son of Coul had tried to convince him to come even though it was at the Tower. There was no telling what mischief Loki might be up to. Thor held up his glass to Kurt. Kurt was Pepper's brother and blue like the Jotun but he was of Midgard. He also noticed not all of the party guests had stayed in the main room.

"Look at Ben," Clint spoke and showed his phone. He certainly wasn't a baby anymore and was adorned with a large festive hat. Sif smiled at the picture.

"2016 is just around the corner so find that person you want to be with. The countdown begins now. 10!" yelled the man on the television. Thor saw Kitty embrace the man who could make drinks cold like Loki could at home.

"9!"

Darcy was already kissing her date; some guy named Wade.

"8!"

Not far from Coulson were Peter and Mary Jane.

"7!"

Fandral suddenly picked Natasha up. She shrieked and slapped him but not very hard.

"6!"

Kurt took his wife into his arms.

"5!"

Steve was already kissing Bobbi.

"4!"

Maria was sitting on Bruce's lap.

"3!"

Tony and Pepper were walking up the stairs towards their bedroom.

"2!"

Sif walked over to Coulson and offered her hand.

"1!"

Thor looked down at Jane and held her close.

"0! HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY 2016!" shouted everyone from the television. He kissed her long and hard, not stopping until there was the sound of someone being shoved into a table.

"Don't kiss me!" Clint spat and Thor saw his brother in his female disguise. He had to laugh.

Pepper knew what Kurt had said and that he must have very good reasons for doing so. However, as the months went by, it still gnawed at her. She wanted to know who her mother was and whether she could tell her anything about her father. They were at a restaurant in March. It was the four of them: she, Tony, Kurt and Amanda. She waited until both their partners were away.

"Kurt, do you know how to contact her at all?" she asked.

"Pepper, Pepper...you should not do this," Kurt warned.

"I know, but it's my mistake. I need to know," Pepper pleaded. "Please?"

He swirled his drink before speaking again.

"She works with Magneto. None of them will help you but there's one on our side that might be able to help you. Go see Charles and ask to speak to Rogue," Kurt told her and she nodded.

"Daddy! Daddy! Watch me!" Ben yelled as Clint came to pick him up.

"Be careful!" Jessica told him. She whispered at Clint, "I really hate it inside the house but it's not like he can do it outside."

Clint became nervous at what his son's newest trick could be especially when he climbed onto the dining room table.

"Watch! Watch!" Ben yelled and jumped. Instead of falling, he started to fly over to them. Clint caught him in his arms.

"That was awesome, Ben!" he praised and kissed him. Then, he turned to Jessica. "Now, you know how I felt when you flew while we were married."

"You need to start talking to Phil better and not using Natasha," she told him with a glare.

"Where did this come from?" Clint asked.

"I think everyone noticed the other day with Mole Man. It's not fair to her that you keep putting her in the middle. I've tried talking to Phil. Now I'm talking to you," she spoke and her green eyes shown that she meant it.

"Fine, tomorrow, since right now, I know he's with May," Clint agreed. Jessica laughed and shook her head.

"First rule of SHIELD: Eventually, everyone will sleep with everyone else," Jessica joked.

"May's not SHIELD," he pointed out.

"Close enough," she retorted.

"Just don't say that in front of Peter, he doesn't know."

"About Phil and May?" Jessica asked, confused.

"About what his aunt really does for a living."

"Boy, for supposedly being so smart, that boy can be really stupid sometimes," Jessica stated. Clint laughed and agreed, "Yeah."

"We go now?" Ben asked with annoyance. It was clear that he had reached his limit of adult conversation.

"Yes," Clint said and picked up the overnight bag.

"Park?" the two year old asked.

"Sure, but you can't fly," Clint said.

"Daddy!" Ben complained.

"It's too dangerous," he told him. Vange came out so both women waved goodbye as they left.

Things weren't as good as they should be between him and Phil. He accepted this except for that little part that would love him forever. There was a little part of him that would always love Jessica, too.

Pepper was expecting someone older, more her age or Kurt's age. Instead, Rogue was just a few years older than Natasha despite the grey streak in her hair and the worn look in her green eyes.

"Why did you ask for me?" she asked in a southern accent.

"Kurt said you might be able to contact our mother but why you?" Pepper asked.

"Our mother?" she repeated and seemed to scrutinize her. "Yes, I can see it- the resemblance."

She looked like their mother? She had heard that Kurt took after their mother.

"I go by Rogue these days but my adopted name is Anna Marie Darkholme. Raven Darkholme took me in. She raised me when no one else wanted me. I know what Kurt says, but there's not all bad in her. It's just really buried," Rogue told her.

"I just want to talk to her. I want to know who my father is," Pepper told her.

"She doesn't speak to me anymore but I'll see what I can do. Chances are, she knows what you're up to and if she wants, she'll come to you," Rogue spoke. It almost sounded like a warning.

It turned out that Rogue was right. A few weeks later, a courier bought a package. Inside the package were coordinates along with a date and time.

"I don't like it," Tony declared.

"I don't like it either," Pepper agreed. "But I don't have much choice. This is the only way I'm going to know."

"Is there any way I could come with you?" Tony asked. Pepper shook her head.

"Maybe if you weren't Iron Man?" Pepper suggested.

"Phil then," Tony offered.

"Tempting but I think I have to go alone," Pepper told him.

"RESCUE?" Tony suggested. She gave him a look. He sighed before taking her hand and kissing her cheek.

"I'm not going to like it," Tony stated.

"That's fine, there's a lot of things you do that I don't like either," Pepper retorted. "If I tell Phil, then SHIELD knows and I don't want them to know."

Tony's phone rang.

Phil, Maria and Nick were meeting in Nick's office with all the security on.

"I've had it confirmed that Pepper Potts is her daughter. Agent Romanov used our equipment to find this out last fall and I had it tested again recently. Potts has begun a sibling relationship with Kurt Wagner and also contacted Anne Marie. Then, yesterday, this came to her," Maria Hill explained and used her phone to project an image on the wall of a short note with coordinates, time and a date. She also had all the evidence to back up her other claims. Phil felt horrible for Pepper. Over the years, he had tried to get over the fact that he would have to spy on friends and loved ones but it never got any easier even if he hadn't been personally involved here. Still, Pepper's privacy had been violated and it hadn't been because of Tony. This was different.

"And what do you propose to do with this?" asked Fury.

"We know exactly where Raven Darkholme is going to be. We can arrest her and remove a very violent criminal from the world as well as one of Magneto's best weapons," Maria spoke.

"What are these coordinates?" Fury asked.

"It's an island off Virginia. There's an estate but it's uninhabited," Maria explained. It was too simple. Something was wrong.

"I don't like it," Fury spoke.

"We can't afford to let this opportunity go by," Maria argued. Phil wanted Fury to make her let this go. There was too much that could go wrong even without a civilian element.

"If you insist on doing this, it has to be the original Avengers only. Don't take any of the SHIELD Agents except Coulson, Romanov and Barton," Fury told her. Not only had he agreed to it, but he'd volunteered Phil. Could it get any worse?

"Fine, I'll start planning," Maria agreed. "One more thing, how did we not know that Potts was carrying the mutant gene?"

"We don't test every asset for that," Phil pointed out.

"Maybe we should," Maria said before gathering her things and leaving the room. Phil was left with a number of questions. He started with the most important.

"Raven Darkholme's file is a Level Nine. I shouldn't have even been at this meeting, sir," Phil pointed out.

"Consider it a promotion then," Fury stated.

"You can't let her go through with this. It's not going to end well and it's not nice to Pepper," Phil spoke.

"We can't let our personal feelings get in the way. Let Maria have her setback. Let her learn from her mistakes and she'll have the Avengers to cover her ass," Fury told him.

"I'm not sure this really qualifies under their job description," Phil spoke.

"They're under SHIELD. We decide what they qualify for," Fury said. "Dismissed."

Phil walked out of the room. He didn't like any of this. It would require a lot of thought.

Phil decided to add a Plan B that Nick wouldn't approve of. He stood in the living room and let himself appear nervous.

"There's nothing I should know about? You aren't having something done to the apartment?" Loki asked, right on cue.

"No, no, it's just...it's a tough case today. Your brother will be there but she's a mutant and she's pretty strong," Phil spoke. Loki was intrigued.

"You claim that she's a match for an Asgardian? Better than Sif?" Loki questioned.

"Possibly," Phil said since he couldn't remember if he had seen Sif in action. The response was immediate. Loki changed into his battle armour.

"It's been too long since I've had a good fight," he stated. Phil had his Plan B.

Pepper jumped down from the rope attached to a Stark helicopter. Her mother was somewhere on this island and she was going to find her. She was also going to enjoy being away from Tony who was being more weird than normal. Pepper was struck by the urge to call out her name but wasn't sure if that would be Raven or Mystique.

There was a creek and she followed that until she reached a mansion. She knocked on the door although it made her feel kind of silly. It was unlocked and she went inside.

"Hello Virginia," called a voice and Pepper walked into a side room where a woman was sitting down. She had blond hair, blue eyes and was very gorgeous.

"I prefer Pepper, actually," Pepper spoke. "I thought Kurt said he took after you."

"The real me? Is that what you want, Pepper?" she asked. Pepper nodded. She was starting to feel a little afraid. "Then call me Mystique."

Mystique stood up and changed form. Now, she was blue from head to toe except for bright yellow eyes like Kurt and red hair. Pepper couldn't help touching her own hair; strawberry blonde that always acted like it couldn't decide between red or blonde. They were also the same height.

"I thought Kurt was dead, but I knew when I gave you up, I knew where you were. I watched you as you started being in the papers and on TV. I wanted to make sure you didn't change like Graydon," Mystique explained except Pepper didn't know who Graydon was. Still, she watched her? She cared?

"For not being a mutant, you've done pretty well," Mystique told her. There seemed to be a veiled insult in that. Then, the front door slammed open.

"Who came with you?" Mystique spat.

"No one," Pepper told her. It was plain that she didn't believe her. Pepper watched as Mystique revealed a gun and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her into the main room. Five of the Avengers, Maria Hill and Loki were there. Tony and Phil were missing. She hoped they'd stayed home rather than participate in this.

"Raven, you're going to come up with us," Maria told her.

"That's not my name, not anymore," Mystique spoke. "I'm not going anywhere."

She cocked her gun. The safety was off and she had it pointed at Maria. Pepper didn't like this. Kurt was right. Before she could pull the trigger, Pepper grabbed for the gun. It went off.

Phil just wanted to postpone that look of betrayal on Pepper's face, same as Tony. Maria was an apt leader. He would wait and see before following in after them. Then, he heard the gun shot.

He didn't even look at Tony. They both ran inside to find a horrible sight. Mystique was smirking in triumph. Pepper was slumped to the floor with an expression that tore at Phil's insides. When he saw what she was looking at, he wanted to throw up.

The bullet had hit Maria. He ran to her but with that kind of head wound, she was already gone. Phil tried to take control and do what she would have wanted him to. It didn't work this time. His knees buckled and he fell down beside her.

"I heard you were a great warrior. Shouldn't such contraptions be beneath you?" asked Loki. Phil looked up to see Loki standing in front of Mystique. Tony had reached Pepper and was pulling her into his arms. Bruce just stared without a word.

"Every one of you is beneath me, human," Mystique told him.

"Ah...your mistake," Loki spoke and his skin color changed to blue similar to her own. His breath could be seen in the air. Phil had never seen Loki's Frost Giant form before. While she was still surprised, Loki took the time to throw several knives. One hit the target while she dodged the others.

"Interesting," she said and changed into his duplicate. Phil hadn't warned him about that part. His mind struggled with the battle at hand and Maria being dead. A comforting hand was on his shoulder. He looked up to see Clint who nodded at him. Maria would have to wait. Phil had to decide what they were going to do. He knew he didn't want anyone else hurt by her. Loki had countered Mystique's move by making his own duplicates. There was no way she could know the real one. Natasha bent down to close Maria's eyes.

"We stand down," Phil whispered. He felt like he was betraying Maria. "Let Loki, Thor and Banner handle it."

However, Thor seemed to be concerned about injuring the real Loki and he could tell Bruce didn't want to change in the enclosed environment. The ceiling did look low. Plus, Bruce had been with Maria. On the other hand, Mystique was slower and she looked to be bleeding from a combination of Loki's assaults and her failed hits on the decoys. For a moment, he forgot and thought how Maria must be enjoying this. He rested his hand on top of Clint's. Then, Loki's duplicates disappeared and he staggered. Mystique began to laugh. Phil took Clint's hand so he helped Phil to his feet. They were steadier now. He didn't want Mystique to get away with it.

"Brother?" Thor asked and came closer. He threw Mjolnir but Mystique ducked. Another woman came out of a different room. She had black hair that was obviously dyed and a large grin. Between that and the tendrils of her costume, Phil knew who this was: Sybil Dvorak. Able to manipulate body tissue, there was no telling what she was doing to him.

She could manipulate body tissue...

"Banner, go after the new one," he ordered as Mystique and Sybil made their way for the door. Loki was even bluer than before. Bruce Hulked out. Pieces of ceiling fell down on them. He leaped for the two making their exit when he changed back without warning. He fell against the threshold and Phil ran to see the women leave in a small jet. Tony had his suit on and aimed to shoot while Steve held his shield at the ready. Lightning struck a tree nearby. The ground shook and rain was pelting down. Phil knew it was sunny when they had heard the gunshot. Steve threw his shield anyway but it was no use. The jet was too far away. They went back inside.

"Pepper..." Natasha started. Pepper was kneeling by Maria's body. "Don't do this."

Bruce was checking out a lethargic Loki. Tony headed for Pepper while Phil went to see what Sybil had managed to do to an Asgardian. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Thor this upset. However, Loki's eyes were completely red and dark liquid was dried on his nostrils and ears.

"What happened?"

"She tried to kill his brain from the inside out. Blown blood vessels from the looks of it," Bruce spoke.

"Mitt head vondt," Loki mumbled.

"Brother, be still," Thor told him.

"He's going to be okay then?" Phil asked.

"I think so. Although he's altered, the talking is a good sign," Bruce answered. It was one less worry. "I've never seen this before. I've never experienced what she did to me. She forced me to change back. Who is she?"

"Someone we'll probably run across again," Phil spoke and turned back to the rest. Tony had Pepper on a couch while Natasha and Clint were both sitting near Maria. Steve just stood there. There was no need in postponing the inevitable. He took out his cell phone and punched buttons.

"Director Fury, we- we lost Hill," he stated. "It was Mystique, sir. We'll be on our way."

"You can't. There's a storm over your location, only your location. Unless Thor can dispatch it, you're stuck until it improves or we can locate Ororo. She's following some lead in Africa," Fury explained. It wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Okay, sir," he acknowledged and hung up. "Thor, unless you can clean up that storm out there, we can't leave."

Thor hesitated. Phil noticed that Loki's skin color had turned back to the same as color as Thor. Bruce nodded at him and Thor called his hammer before venturing outside. The rain sounded worse and lightning struck nearby again. Thor came back in and shook his head.

"It is enchanted," he spoke with disgust. "Perhaps once Loki is well."

There was nothing else to be done. They were stuck here. Phil didn't like leaving her on the floor. He picked her although she felt so much heavier now. On a large coffee table, he placed her body, folding her arms. She could have almost passed for a Snow White waiting for her prince if you didn't look at her head.

It was a private room connected to the main room where everyone else was.

"I'm sorry, Maria. I'm sorry," Phil apologized. Every SHIELD agent accepted that they probably weren't going to retire. Peggy Carter was the rare exception. They were going to die in the line of duty and it was going to hurt. At least with Maria, it was quick.

Phil took a chair for himself. He turned his back to the doorway so they couldn't see him cry. His dulled senses missed the approaching figure until the arms were around him. He smelled Clint's familiar scent.

"Remember when we finished training and she was such a hard-ass on you?" Clint asked. "I wanted to put a snake in her quarters but you convinced me not to. Instead, you found out her favorite bottle of wine and chocolates. Then, she stopped."

"I'm glad she did that though. It made me better," Phil argued. "What are we going to do?"

"You're going to agonize about the change in power structure, how SHIELD will be affected and what you could have done differently," Clint spoke. "So, I'm here to stop you for the time being."

"Stop me?" asked Phil although he liked the sound of that plan. He wanted something else to distract him from everything inside.

"Like this," Clint said and started kissing him. Yesterday, Phil would have pushed him away; still hurt from the betrayal all those months ago and how stupid he had been himself. Today, none of it mattered. He just wanted to feel alive. Phil kissed him back and held him close.

Steve had wandered the full extent of the house. It was almost like something out of Gatsby. Once upon a time, it must have been very expensive to build and keep. Now, it was beginning to fall apart; crumbling paint here and decaying fabric there. He walked down the stairs into the main room. Bruce, Natasha, Thor and Loki sat in the middle with playing cards. Loki was only half-clothed and Bruce was in his boxers while Thor was also in a state of undress, just not as much.

"But for round twelve, the winner has the lowest score," Bruce explained. He shared a glance with Natasha. "So, the one with the highest points has to remove another article."

"Me again?" Loki asked.

"Yes," Bruce confirmed. Loki removed his leggings so just his underwear remained.

"Bruce, I want a word," Steve spoke and motioned for him to come over.

"I thought you were supposed to watch him, not take advantage," Steve reminded him.

"It's Loki. How many times does this opportunity come up? His cognitive skills are slowly improving; just let us have this fun," Bruce said. Steve noticed how red Bruce's eyes were. How could he forget how close Bruce and Maria had become? He'd let Bruce have this respite.

Then Steve realized how Bruce was in his boxers.

"If you're making up the rules, how come you lost a round?" he asked.

"Natasha does some of the rounds and she can be very persuasive," Bruce explained. "Join in."

Steve didn't have anything else to do so he asked for some cards.

"Whoever has the most hearts is the loser," Natasha declared after they all noticed Loki's full hand of them.

"Men jeg bare my undergarment," Loki pointed out.

"It's the rules," Natasha said with a shrug.

"If he remembers any of this, he will kill us," Steve pointed out.

"Still worth it," Natasha argued. Loki slid off the fabric and Steve was glad he wasn't drinking anything. Even Natasha was freely gaping in surprise.

"What? Jeg deforment?" Loki asked, looking down.

"No!" Bruce, Steve and Natasha all agreed.

"You people can be very strange sometimes," Thor commented.

"He is a Frost Giant. Maybe that's the 'giant' part," Steve theorized.

"Literally," Bruce retorted.

"We could have a comparison," Natasha suggested and nodded at Thor.

In a louder voice, Bruce announced, "We'll play until only one person is still clothed."

A phone rang and Thor reached into his armor.

"Jane, this is not the best time," Thor spoke into the device and walked away from them. A live comparison would have to wait.

"You can't blame yourself," Tony told Pepper. How many times had she said that to him? How useless it all seemed now.

"How could I not? I wanted to meet her. I'm the reason Maria came here. I'm the one that fought with the gun," Pepper spoke. "And she was wearing a vest. I didn't know that. Maybe if I just let Mystique shoot, she would have shot her chest and she'd still be alive right now. Or if she had just used a LMD like Phil did?"

"Pepper, you know how many times I've gone through this. My actions have caused a lot of pain and suffering, I admit. I used to wonder how many deaths I enabled to happen through Stark weapons, but it eats at you," Tony admitted. In a softer voice as he looked away from her, he added, "It's why I felt I had to do Iron Man."

"So, this is what you feel like? Day after day?" Pepper asked. Tony nodded.

"Yep," he replied. Pepper's insides felt like a bottomless pit and while she saw how much it had all hurt Tony, it was overwhelming feeling it.

"I...I don't want to be you," Pepper spoke. "I should have just stuck with being an average assistant and nothing special."

"Pepper-"

She couldn't look at him anymore. Instead, she walked over to the window and looked out. Tony tried to put his hands on her shoulder but she shrugged out of it. She didn't want to feel better. This was all her fault.