Chapter 2
Parker isn't surprised when, as promised on Monday at 9 AM on the dot, a sleek black car shows up outside the children's home. She's gotten the impression already that Stark is extremely efficient. She grabs her backpack the moment she sees the car roll to a stop at the curb, hurrying outside.
"Hi," the driver says cheerfully as he steps out of the car to open the back door for her. "Happy Hogan. You're Parker, right?"
"Yes, sir." He waves it off with a grin and she can see why he's called Happy as she climbs into the backseat of the car.
"None of that 'sir' stuff. Just Happy's fine. And don't try that on the boss, either, he won't like it." He gets into the front seat and starts driving as Parker shuffles to look out the window instinctively at the ocean as she always does when she's on the road near the beach. They're not going the right way, though, she notes, since Stark Industries is in the other direction. She can see it on the edge of the skyline, and for a horrible moment, she's terrified that she's being kidnapped. What had she been thinking, getting into a car with a stranger? It goes against everything Phil had told her about being safe.
"Where are we going?" she asks even as she instinctively reaches for the door handle, preparing to throw herself out the door and grab her phone to call Phil for help.
To her relief, Happy says quickly the moment he notices her panic, "Oh, hey, relax. I'm sorry, I should've mentioned that Mr. Stark wanted me to bring you to the house instead of SI."
"The house?" Parker echoes, relaxing enough to let go of the door handle. "Why?"
"Says he's got something to show you in his lab." It doesn't do much to soothe Parker's nerves, but as Stark's mansion comes into view, her worries fade away as she admires just how beautiful it is.
The mansion is perched on a cliff overlooking a beach that's most likely private, with crystal blue waters washing up onto the sand in slow, lazy waves. The entire front-facing wall of the mansion is made of glass, so the ocean is visible no matter where someone is in the house. Parker thinks that if she gets to work in the mansion all the time, she might enjoy it far more than being cooped up inside a tiny windowless office in Stark Industries like she had expected.
Happy stops the car outside the front door and opens the back door for Parker to slide out.
"Thanks for the ride," she says and he gives her a warm smile.
"No problem. The boss said to take you anywhere you need, so anytime you have to go out, just find me." Parker thanks him again before heading up the front steps and knocking on the front door.
"Good morning, Miss Smith," a computerized voice says and she starts in surprise, looking around even as her nose instinctively wrinkles at the generic last name that the system had saddled her with. "Don't be alarmed. My name is JARVIS and I am Mr. Stark's personal AI. Please step inside and make yourself at home. Mr. Stark will be up from his lab momentarily." The door's lock disengages and Parker pushes the door open, stepping inside shutting the door behind herself.
"AI?" she echoes as what JARVIS had said sinks in, eyes widening with excitement as she realizes she's meeting a real, full-fledged AI.
"Yes, I manage all of Mr. Stark's agendas and accounts, as well as provide dry humor at his expense," JARVIS answers and she can hear a hint of said dryness in his synthesized voice.
"That's neat. I didn't know AIs could have a sense of humor," she says curiously as she glances around the main foyer. It's just as beautiful inside as it is outside, with steel structures and modern furniture and art everywhere.
"Mr. Stark programmed me to evolve a personality, Miss Smith," JARVIS says simply and Parker frowns again.
"Any chance I can convince you to drop the last name?"
"As you wish, Miss Parker. If there is anything else that makes you uncomfortable, please inform me." JARVIS directs her to the kitchen, where a pretty redheaded woman in a blouse and pencil skirt is pouring herself some juice.
"Oh. Hi, you must be Parker." She sets down the glass and comes around the kitchen counter to shake Parker's hand. Her handshake is firm and Parker gets the impression that this is a woman not to mess with, even if she's smiling kindly. "Virginia Potts, but please call me Pepper. I'm Mr. Stark's assistant."
"Were you the one to read my paper?" Parker asks as she puts the pieces together and Pepper nods.
"I filtered most of the applications out and sent only yours through to Mr. Stark. An app to view veins for venipuncture procedures is definitely the most innovative idea we got, and useful, too." Parker feels herself redden at the praise and Pepper grins at her embarrassment. "Not used to somebody telling you you're smart?"
"No, ma'am," Parker admits, ducking her head shyly.
"Just Pepper, please," Pepper insists with a chuckle. "Although it's nice to see at least one genius with manners around here." Parker's positive she resembles a tomato even as Pepper squeezes her shoulder gently. She's possibly the kindest person Parker's ever met, aside from Phil. "Can I get you anything to drink? Water, juice?"
"Orange juice, please?" Pepper goes back around the counter to pour her some orange juice and Parker thanks her as she takes the glass to sip on it. "Where is Mr. Stark, anyway?" she asks as Pepper sits down on a barstool at the island, a couple of folders spread out in front of her.
"Down in his lab," Pepper answers as she fishes a pen out of her purse and opens a folder to begin filling out the papers inside. "I'd suggest you let him know you're here, but he's always blowing things up these days, it's not a good idea to risk going downstairs without warning him." Parker grimaces, nodding in agreement as Pepper nods to the barstool beside her. Parker obediently hops up onto the barstool once she sets her backpack down. "Nondisclosure form, if you could sign here," Pepper says, passing her a paper and the pen.
"Why?" Parker asks, reading quickly through the form and trying to make sense of the legal jargon.
"Just so we know you won't go telling our competitors what's down in Mr. Stark's lab." Pepper shrugs a little. "Of course, I know you won't, but it's just a precaution. HR demands it."
Parker frowns even as she signs the form and passes it and the pen back to Pepper. "How do you know I won't?" she says. "Not that I would, of course, but just out of curiosity."
Pepper gets an odd look on her face then as she stuffs the form back into its folder. "Oh, no reason." Her voice is a little higher-pitched than normal.
Parker decides that's very suspicious and opens her mouth to press further, but then she hears heavy footsteps coming up from the staircase leading down into the basement. Stark emerges into view, clearly having been working on a car or invention since the front of his band T-shirt, old and faded to the point where she can't even tell what band it is, and jeans are covered in splatters of motor oil and grease.
"Oh, good, you're here." He waves her over to the staircase and she climbs down from the barstool even as Pepper huffs.
"She still needs to fill out the paperwork, Tony," she scolds, but Stark rolls his eyes at her.
"She can fill it out later, Pep, I wanna get her set up in the lab first."
"You mean I'm actually working here?" Parker asks and both Pepper and Stark look at her. She flushes under the attention. "I mean, I won't be at SI?"
"Nah, it's way too boring there, you'd only be stuck at a desk all day." Stark waves dismissively. "You'll have more fun downstairs, and you'll get to meet the bots."
"The bots?" Parker feels her voice pick up a little in tone and Stark grins at her palpable excitement. "I can meet real robots?"
"Sure, sure. Don't get your hopes up, though, they're incredibly stupid. You can fill out the paperwork later." He raises his eyebrows pointedly at Pepper, who sighs heavily.
"Fine, take her downstairs. But remember, no explosions, she's only a kid."
"Yeah, yeah." Stark's already halfway down the stairs again.
"I'll be careful, I promise," Parker does her best to reassure Pepper, who doesn't look all that mollified as Parker grabs her backpack and hurries after Stark down the stairs. She joins him at the foot of the stairs in front of a sliding glass door, which he only has to approach in order for it to slide open.
"J, give Parker full access to the lab mainframe," he addresses the ceiling.
"Of course," JARVIS replies as Parker steps inside the lab. "Welcome, Miss Parker. I have taken the liberty of setting up your workspace for you." She looks around the lab as she makes her way to a table that glows white until she approaches it. Her side of the lab looks neat and unused while what's clearly Stark's side looks like a hurricane had passed through, turned around, and passed through again. There are mechanical parts and tools scattered everywhere and Parker has to step over a few as she sets her backpack down by her table.
"How do you work like this?" she asks Stark before she can stop herself and he blinks at her in bewilderment.
"Like what?" He glances around self-consciously. "Oh. Probably should've cleaned up a little." He shrugs one shoulder. "Come on, the bots are over here." He ushers her over to the other side of the lab, where three robots are nestled into the corner. "U, DUM-E, Butterfingers, we've got company," Stark calls and they perk up, wheeling over so quickly that Parker's afraid they'll fall over from excitement. Each robot consists of just one long claw with a camera attached to the top and a cylindrical body with wheels attached, but they make up for their lack of faces with how rapidly they start beeping when their camera lenses focus on Parker's face. "They're excited, they don't get to meet strangers often," Stark informs her.
"Why'd you name them like that?" she asks as DUM-E clumsily attempts to pat her shoulder with its claw. She awkwardly pats its claw back, which seems to make it happy as it beeps and nuzzles in closer.
"I told you they're stupid," Stark answers with a shrug. "Don't be surprised if they douse you with a fire extinguisher even if you're not on fire. They do that." Despite how annoyed he sounds, he smiles a little as Butterfingers cuddles up to his side and absently pets the robot's chassis. "You can push them away if they start bugging you."
"No, it's okay. They're cute," Parker reassures him, grinning as U wheels up to her and beeps plaintively until she pets its claw. "How do you program them to have so much emotion? Can you even program emotion?"
"You can simulate it, sure, but it's not nearly the same thing. And I actually didn't have much to do with it," Stark admits. "Once I put the basic framework in, the rest of their evolution's up to them. As you can see, the bots stopped at toddler-level and need constant maintenance while J's practically self-sufficient."
"Appreciated, sir," JARVIS deadpans.
"You should be nicer to your babies," Parker says as she scratches U's claw gently until it begins to whirr, sounding like a contented cat.
Stark sputters a little as she returns to her empty side of the lab and DUM-E follows her. "They're not my babies!" He frowns at DUM-E when it picks up a tennis ball and holds it out to Parker with a whine. "No, DUM-E, she's not gonna play fetch with you." DUM-E insistently pushes the ball at Parker until she takes it and gently tosses it towards the couch on the back wall. DUM-E happily rolls after the ball, beeping as it goes. "You're spoiling them," Stark says, sounding disgruntled, and Parker frowns as she turns back to him.
"Well, I can stop playing with them if you don't like it." It's not as if she wants to upset her new employer on her first day at work, after all.
Stark sighs. "No, no, they need the stimulation, I guess," he mutters concedingly, rubbing a hand over his face. "Just don't make it a habit or they'll never leave you alone."
"I don't mind," Parker answers as DUM-E returns the tennis ball to her proudly and she rewards it with a pat on its chassis before throwing the ball again for it to chase. She's careful to aim away from the glass chamber on the wall holding the red and gold suit that so many of her classmates had seen. "How'd you build that suit?" she asks as she turns back to Stark, who looks less annoyed now and more considering.
"Why do you want to know?" he responds with a question of his own.
"Well, I heard it could fly, so I wanted to know how."
Stark nods as he moves over to his desk, which is covered in what Parker now notices are pieces of the suit, including a gauntlet with its fingers splayed outwards. "Repulsor technology," he tells her, tapping the clear circle in the center of the gauntlet's palm. "The suit's powered by an arc reactor, and the repulsors are both for flight and weaponry."
"Arc reactor?" Parker echoes and Stark taps his chest this time. Where it should have made a dull sound, Parker hears a sharp clink of metal instead.
"Extremely strong magnet, keeps metal shrapnel out of my heart." When Parker opens her mouth to ask why he even has metal shrapnel in his chest, he quickly changes the subject before she can get the words out. "So, venipuncture app. Sounds pretty advanced for your age. How much programming do you know?"
"Not a whole lot," Parker confesses as she pulls out the ancient laptop she had bought second-hand with pocket money she had saved up to set it on her workbench. Stark's expression shifts into something amused the same way it had when she had given him her flip phone.
"Okay, we're gonna need to work on getting you up to speed, tech-wise." He opens his mouth to add something else, but JARVIS interrupts them.
"Pardon me for the intrusion, but Agent Coulson has arrived upstairs and requests your and Miss Parker's presence."
"Phil?" Parker blurts out, bewildered. Also, Agent? she thinks, but decides not to linger too much on it. "He's here? Why?"
Stark looks uncomfortable as he shuffles a little on the spot. "I may not have been entirely truthful about why you're here."
Dun dun dun.
Also, I totally wasn't kidding about how psyched I am to update this story and get to the rest of the Avengers. I'm going to try to avoid what I inevitably do with most of my fics, which is write the ending, which always ends up demotivating me to write the middle bits to get to the ending.
(also lol totally forgot that Peter Parker exists in this world and every time JARVIS says Miss Parker, it sounds like a relation to him, I promise Parker's not related in any way to Spiderman)
Hope you enjoy!