"Anika MARGARET Stark! Peter BENJAMIN Parker!" We froze for half a second hearing Bucky's angry roar before scattering, skinny limbs flailing in panic. Weird to put it into words but, we actually forgot that we left a prank for Bucky to find. Then again soon as we did it our scatter brains were off onto the next five things leaving it on the back burner...right up until he found it that is.
The problem with it is, I'm not sure which prank he found. There were actually a couple of options to choose from which depending on the circumstances could get both really funny and actually rather quite terrifying in the next minute or so. We had just about no time in order to get to the secret hiding places no one else knows about, the ones that weren't to be mentioned for times such as these. This specific hiding spot was actually just outside of the kitchen, in one of the cupboards. It was a hidden cupboard that no one else has found because there was a piece of furniture slid up against it which no one else moved out of the way for any sort of reason.
Slipping in directly after Peter I pulled the leg of the chair back into place just as I heard his stomping footsteps. While our hearts may have been racing wildly I couldn't help but grin while flicking on the weak lamp I put in here for light. Peter still had the adrenaline flashing through his system, as did I, and I silently rose a finger to my lips. He smiled back, biting his lower lip as his eyes flitted over in the direction Bucky was making sounds from.
There was just enough room for the both of us to stretch out, a couple of inches above for headspace, we could touch either side of the walls with our arms slightly bent. This must have been meant for storage of things such as Christmas decorations or anything else of the sort. It's not as if the penthouse has an attic, much to my relief though horror movies have taught me everything I need to know about attics and basements.
"Which one do you think got him?" Peter mouthed the words to be as quiet as humanly possible.
"Don't know," I mouthed back, "maybe the toothpaste?" He nodded while absently pushing his hand through his hair. It was a mop, curls that needed a haircut to clean up the mess they currently were. Though we wouldn't be caught dead calling out how cute the style actually was, we as is everyone BUT Peter. I felt him on the curls thing, my bed head was the object of hilarity and daily teasing every single morning when my grouchy self makes it to the table. Curls are a pain in the bootiehole. Bucky didn't realize when he called me out on the rag curls that that was how I maintained the monstrosity that was my hair. It wasn't properly curly or straight it just kind of would bzzzdah. If that makes any sense which it should y'all are smart.
The only reason we were getting away with this was because Jarvis couldn't be wired through the place being only temporary, and Dad hasn't made a new version of the watch that he was happy with. All just fine by me in a situation such as this.
"How long will he be mad?" Peter mouthed again which I only shrugged with an exaggerated 'well I dunno' expression. Truthfully if Bucky thought I was bad before, he had no idea what was coming when I had an accomplice(s). Frankly the beast has been unleashed and I was having more fun in the past few months than I've had in years. Peter's birthday came and went, mine coming up soon enough, and while Bucky may glower at every time we would go insane and he would be stuck being the one to deal with it we all knew he never really minded...most of the time.
"You two may think you can avoid me until backup comes, but that is not going to happen." I cocked a brow looking Peter dead in the eye with pursed lips, his response was to open and close his hand repeatedly as if saying "blah blah blah." The fact that I had so much influence over his behavior was a little alarming, though at the same time highly entertaining because no one ever suspected that he was close to being just as devious as yours truly. They all assumed that everything was always just my idea and he was sweet enough to just go along with it. People just wanted to delude themselves I've found, they had to at least know on some level that this wasn't exactly the case.
Bucky's steps were thumping around the penthouse but always fading out before suddenly starting again in a comically far distance from where the sounds stopped. He was a BIG dude sure, however he was also the long blown wind that arrives on a whisper no sound to be heard even if you were listening for it. He was trying to get a reaction from the two of us that would cause a bit of noise...rude, that's cheating.
I.F.I.F.I.F.
I flailed from being startled awake, arm smacking into the side of the cupboard from the force. Peter gasped out a, "Huh-what?" before squinting at the onslaught of brighter light.
Dad chuckled overhead, "While I expected to find you little gremlins pulling mischief, I did not expect to find two house mice sleeping in the walls."
Peter grinned and started to squeak while crawling from the cubby, me quickly following in his example, where he set himself to lock his arms and legs around Dad's ankle. With him in place I climbed to sit upon his shoulders Pete and I both still squeaking and giggling.
"Pep! Pepper help!" He cried out while lurching his body dramatically making the giggles rise tenfold, "We have an infestation of giggling mice!"
"Giggling mice? It's a good thing I've got bait waiting for mice at the table." The two of us dropped to the floor in less than a second, rushing to the kitchen to see what she had with her.
"Mutiny!" Dad cried, "The betrayal! Where oh where could my mice's loyalty have gone?"
"Away once they turned into little baby birds," Pepper grinned before winking at us mischievously, laughing once we started to make peeping noises flapping our arms like chickens. "Alright it's time for two little birdies to wash their hands."
I shrieked before giggling madly being flipped upside down, held up high in the air by the ankle. "Think you escaped me?" Bucky said smugly as I swung in place. With a beaming grin I reached my hands out towards him. "No, don't think you can so easily sway me." My hands opened and closed in a grasping sort of motion as I strained even closer. Bucky cursed in a language I couldn't identify before swinging me upright where I instantly flung my arms around his neck and tucked my head. "The devil should not have eyes so pretty," He said to Pepper splaying a hand over my back, "they'll be able to allow her to get away with murder." I tensed and he instantly rubbed my back in silent apology.
"Is she really the devil? She could just be the big bad wolf." Peter said with a little laugh.
"Well big bad wolves must have dinner," Pepper cut in, "You wash up too mister I know for a fact the arm cover is waterproof."
I.F.I.F.I.F.
"Do you ever wonder what else is out there?" I asked Dad when we were alone in his lab, a trip back to Malibu in order to work out who and what would come to New York. I knew the majority would go but I came along anyways.
"Like?"
"Oh you know, aliens and stuff. Cause just look at the tesseract back in the forties."
Dad looked up from the suit, "How exactly do you know about that?"
I hopped off the stool and held out the duckie, "You learn a lot when you steal information from Shield." He started to laugh, looking once more at the duckie before falling over to prop his head up by his hand from how hard he was laughing, "What?!"
"I just, I didn't believe him when he told me. Shows what I know, if he says you assassinated one-eyed Fury tomorrow I'll just believe it from now on."
I glared now, "Do you want to see what's on this or not? I think you should recruit the astrophysicist and her gang, at least at some point."
He sobered, "You sniff them out?" I nodded with a smirk. "You know, you never did say what was going on where Shield took you."
"Subtlety is clearly not thy name, Dad. They refused to tell me, though I know enough. It lies in the same line of direction as the tesseract." I pursed my lips wondering how much I should outright say, "I met them, briefly, two who were most definitely not human."
"Were they little green men?"
"If you're not going to take me seriously I will leave right now, Peter is a much better audience than you ever will be."
Dad raised a brow and placed his tools down, "Do we need to have another talk about boys Anika?"
Oh don't do it, you can behave yourself c'mon you can you-shit, "Yes, know what I'm just going to get married to Peter. Soon as we're legally able to elope down at the courthouse. Hey Pete!" I called out loudly starting to turn towards the door.
"Oh no you don't!" I smirked at him quite smug, after all he did fall for her trap. He then squinted and scoffed, "You did that on purpose."
"Damn right I did."
"Language young lady," He went back to the suit, no real reprimand to be found. "Though, if you had to get married I would hope it would be to a good man, I want to try to give you a good impression to apply that to. Maybe Peter can be that someday."
WHOA! Okay feelings this came out of nowhere erm… "Dad, while I appreciate you batting for Pete in that regard...he's like my brother." I ignored his outburst of 'oh thank GOD!' and merely continued, "Irregardless! While everyone makes mistakes in their youth, Lord knows I've made so many already, I do know that you've...you're someone I'm very proud of."
"You don't know what I've done kiddo," he said kindly.
"Course I do, doesn't mean I hold any of it against you. I'm a genius with an internet access. God, the very idea of me not being able to make a Google search."
"Alright alright I get it don't underestimate my smart kid, better get Jarvis to apply a censor-" he started under his breath but I heard him all the same.
"Don't even bother I know how to get around all those things. But, my point that you keep distracting me from is that your past means nothing to me. The only thing I should hold against you was giving me away way back when, and I've long since forgiven you because you're my Dad and I love you stupid."
He sighed and put the tools down once more, this time actually to stand and take her hand, "Come with me." We walked out of his lab and he still went further, all until we got to a balcony overlooking the base of Stark Enterprise. "My legacy, all of it drenched in blood and regret." I wanted to interrupt, but he looked lost staring out at nothing. "I saw it for what it was because he gave it to me, a legacy drenched in blood along with the boots of Captain America to fill."
I'm confused about why he was telling me any of this, sins of the Father but why tell the Granddaughter? I looked up at him again, feeling my face scrunch in visible confusion. "I saw things for what it was, only I didn't have a good enough reason to change it because I was stupid and arrogant. Let it go on for far too long, then you dropped out of the sky and I already loved you. Snarly, sarcastic, genius, but so completely you that I knew we just clicked. I'm not going to lie, there might be some poor bastards out there of mine because of the way I was but I chose you, you're my daughter and you were faced with the same outcome I had. So I've been trying, working to change and clean up my act so that you don't have to face the burden."
"You chose to be a Dad," I said and could swear I heard him sniff.
"I did, I often wonder if I would have if it was with anyone but you."
"I'm sure you would, I'm just me." I said looking out at the distinct letters of 'Stark Enterprise' oh so far away. He suddenly hitched me up onto his hip, both our heads at level heights.
"You, are Anika Margaret Stark. There is no 'just' about you."
I frowned further though, "But, doesn't bother you that I'm not biologically?"
"You are in attitude and intellect, and believe me the world kind of panicked when that happened." I almost wanted to laugh with him but, we never once talked about this not at all in the many years now since it happened. I remember it clear as if it was yesterday.
"Then why did Stane tell you otherwise?"
"How did you?"
"You weren't the only one he told, you and Pepper must have talked about it at bloody some point? Or did it manage to slip both your minds and yet not mine? Which, I don't believe I was being very sarcastic there."
"I just took it as he was lying, he lied about so much of course he would that too."
I knew my expression was the 'you dribbled down your face and I'm judging you' one, I couldn't help it that was one of the most ridiculous and stupid things I've ever heard him say and I've seen him after about a week without sleep and only having coffee to sustain him with bagels for some reason. "But literally how?! He was a brilliant sadistic man who literally hid that he tried to murder you from YOU! Why would he suddenly out of the blue decide to say I was your daughter when you most definitely would have been more likely ran from that. Don't look at me like that you bloody well did but that's not the point. Which it's not like there was a gold digging mother to make go away, he wanted me around even having me tested!"
"He wanted to manipulate you into being a better version of me, he told me just as much. But it was just a rouse, hon, you're putting too much focus on it." He seemed ready to believe it but I just couldn't.
"Dad, remember at the gala he was enraged furious that you brought me because the very idea of them spinning that I was your illegitimate child was something he saw as an outright disaster. But then the very next day I was suddenly yours and he didn't want you to know. Just, think about it, it doesn't seem weird to you?"
"It's very weird," he said but it was in a tone I immediately didn't like, "but he is dead. We don't have to worry about him anymore or the insane schemes he was cooking up. You forget the rule, no conspiracy theories." And with that I knew I lost him, but it almost seemed as if there was an area of his brain that was purposely misdirecting him away from this. Whatever, if he wasn't going to look further, that certainly wasn't going to stop me. There was a reason behind all of it, and the bizarre fogginess to his eyes was not my imagination, there was something bigger with this. And I certainly intended on figuring it out, no matter how long it takes.
A/N
Hello hello! Hey look see? Writing I'm doing it! I will admit, I have been on a David Tennant binge (again…) and only now realized there were SO MANY available on prime! Who knew?! High key recommend Bad Samaritan and the movie Casanova he did back in 2005. OH MY GAWD BOTH ONLY IF YOU'RE OLD ENOUGH NO BABIES PLEASE MY BABIES, I think I'm actually going a bit crazy with all this actually...oh well no matter I've got more of Sexy McSexy Tennant to watch and more to write! Can you tell I love David? Have since I was like fifteen years old blimey how time flies… What have you lot been doing during quarantine? And happy Easter to those who celebrate it! I haven't been to church in over a month and so many of my days have run together to the point that I almost missed the fact that tomorrow's Easter anyways. Tata for now!
