Gemma was in the back seat of the car, Happy was driving faster and faster. Pepper – her mother – wasn't with them. Where was she? "Mom!" she screamed, then heard glass shatter around her. She was in the stadium at the Expo. In front of her, Tony was fighting Vanko, who was in some sort of bulky suit. The light from Vanko's electric whips flew around Tony. The whip wrapped around Tony's torso, pulling him closer to Vanko. "Dad! Dad!" Gemma ran as fast as she could towards him, but it was too late. Vanko's whip sliced the Iron Man suit in half, and he helmet slid open. Her father's lifeless face stared at her. Vanko let out a deep laugh and started to shoot the ceiling of the stadium. Glass shards fell all around her, and she ducked her head and screamed. You lose, Stark. You lose!
"Dad!" Gemma bolted up from her bed. There was no glass on the floor, and her father's body disappeared. New York cleared, she back home in Malibu. She tried to steady her breathing. "It wasn't real," she muttered to herself. "It wasn't real." It had been five days since the Expo, but it felt like only yesterday. Out the window, the sun was starting to rise, and Gemma gazed at her clock. It was only six-thirty.
There were footsteps outside her room and Tony entered. "I heard you scream, are you alright?" he asked sitting down on her bed. "Yeah," she replied, running her hand through her hair. "Just a bad dream."
"About what?"
Gemma took a deep breath. "The Expo. Vanko killed you and the he shot the ceiling and glass rained down." A tear escaped her eye. "Honey, it's okay," Tony comforted her, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm here, and Vanko's dead."
"Thanks," Gemma mumbled. They sat for a while, gazing at the sunrise. It seemed like it was becoming a habit. They did the same thing after Tony and Pepper had fought. "You know, I thought we could tell Pepper the news today, when she comes home from the office. I could cook something special," Tony said. Gemma looked at him with disbelief. "You? Cook something?" she asked. Tony smiled. "And by cook I mean order take-out."
"Sounds good," Gemma smiled and rested her head on Tony's shoulder. "How do you think she'll take it? Finding out that you told me she is my mother?" she asked. "She wanted to tell you for a long time, but I think that she'll be fine."
This was the first time she had been able to spend actual time with her father since the Expo. He was always busy with the company and cleaning up. He didn't even say where he was going half the time. "Where were you yesterday?" Gemma asked. Tony had said that he had some sort of meeting and walked out the door. He was gone for almost the whole day. "Oh, I met with Fury," Tony replied. She tilted her head. "Was it about the Avengers Initiative?"
"I'm not really supposed to talk about it, but yes," Tony smirked.
"So are you in?"
"Sort of. They approved Iron Man… but not me," he said shifting his gaze from Gemma to the sunrise. "But… how can they do that?" she asked. Tony sighed. It was clear that her father wanted to apart of this initiative, but he had been too reckless these past couple months to prove it. Gemma felt bad for Tony, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, what do they know?" Gemma said, looking up at Tony and smiling. They sat in silence again for a while, until Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, I wanted to say thank you," he said. Gemma looked at him curiously. "What for?" she asked. "For, you know, believing in me and not shutting me out even when I was acting like an ass to everyone. And for punching Hammer in the face," he replied. Gemma giggled. "It was my pleasure."
It was about eight at night when Pepper came back from Stark Industries. Gemma and Tony made the dinner as fancy as they could. They settled on Thai take-out. The lights were dimmed, and classical music played softly in the background. "What's this?" Pepper asked, taking a seat at the circular table. "Take-out," Tony said. Pepper chuckled softly. "What's the occasion?"
"Well, it's the first time we've been able to have a meal together since the Expo, and Dad's getting an award tomorrow, so we thought that we'd have our own little celebration," Gemma explained. Her heart was beating so loudly she thought everyone could hear it. It was both exciting and nerve-racking that they were going to tell her about what she'd been told. Gemma was worried about how Pepper was going to take it, which was weird because she knew Pepper wouldn't get mad at either of them, but it worried her nonetheless.
"Well how thoughtful of you and Tony," Pepper smiled. They started eating in silence, and Tony and Gemma kept eyeing each other. She wanted to tell Pepper so bad, but the words wouldn't come to her. Soon after Pepper noticed their behaviour. "Are you guys okay?" she asked. "You look like you're hiding something."
Tony spoke up. "Uh, yes, we do need to tell you something," he eyed Gemma. She took a deep breath.
"Tony told me about you and him, that you're my mother," she tried to slow down her speech, but if felt like all the words had come out of her mouth at once. Pepper didn't say anything for a few seconds. Her arm reached out and held Gemma's hand. "Oh, Gemma," she breathed. "I..." she looked at Tony, "we, wanted to tell you so bad. But with all that's happened we never found the right moment. I hope you're not angry that we kept this from you."
Gemma smiled and got up from her seat. She held her mother's hand for a few seconds before hugging her. "Of course I'm not mad," she said, sniffling. "I just so happy that I know I have a mother."
"What? Was a single dad not good enough for you?" Tony asked, pretending to be hurt. Gemma laughed. "You know that's not what I meant," she said, smiling. Tony returned her smile and got up from his seat. He stepped over to Pepper and Gemma. "I know," he said softly. Gemma pulled him in to their hug.
"You know, this is the first time we've ever acted like a normal family," Tony noted. They separated, but were still together beside the table. Pepper and Tony held hands, and he had his free arm around Gemma. She smiled, taking in the fact that what her father said was true. They are not and will ever be a normal family, but that was okay. She looked at her parents. "My father's Iron Man and my mother's a CEO of a weapons company that doesn't make weapons. We are about as far from normal as you can get." She paused for a moment. Her mother looked at her curiously, with a slight smile in the corner of her lips. "And is that bad?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in mock surprise.
Gemma gazed down at her feet, smiling even wider than before. She looked back at her parents.
"It's perfect."
Author's Note: And this concludes A Sword or a Shield! Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/followed/favourited! It is much appreciated. I'm planning on posting another sequel that takes place between Iron Man 2 and the Avengers, but hopefully ties in with the Avengers so look out for that.
Thanks again for reading!
- CaptainoftheUSSTardis
