Chapter 7
As much as Parker really doesn't want to go on a mission anytime soon after her disaster of a first mission - although, really, it hadn't been that much of a disaster, seeing as she had helped bring down a giant monster even if the Hulk had done most of the work - she can't help but appreciate the fame it gets her around SHIELD for the first few weeks after the mission.
Agents she's never even met before come up to her in the hallways to praise her for taking on the Abomination when she's so young and inexperienced - not that it had really been a choice for her, but she doesn't correct them. After she tells Agents Romanoff and May the story in her first training session after the mission, even they're impressed enough to reward her with small smiles before launching into their regular sparring session.
She gets home one day and enters the basement lab to find Tony tinkering on a suit that seems to be smaller than his usual Iron Man suit, frowning in concentration as he fiddles with the elbow joint.
"I hate to break it to you, but you're at least six inches taller than that," she points out dryly as she settles in at her own desk and opens her laptop to start working on her latest programming project - a rudimentary artificial intelligence algorithm that Tony plans to install into JARVIS to monitor the household security cameras and detect faces. She's sure it's something Tony could have programmed in his sleep - and probably already had - but he had given it to her as a practice assignment.
"It's not for me," he answers absently as he tightens a bolt into place. "It's for you."
Parker blinks, bewildered. "Me?" she echoes, surprised. "Last I checked, these hands have enough firepower on their own. Literally." She wiggles her fingers to make her point and he rolls his eyes.
"Well, I figure there's always a chance you might need more backup than just your bending. I'm working on a way to call the suit to you using a watch if you need it. That way it'll act like a shield around you. Maybe I can get it to open up around your hands so you can still bend," he muses as he turns to the hologram in front of him to tweak some details.
Parker takes the opportunity to study the suit - it's not bright red and gold like Tony's other suits, but instead a muted shade of navy blue with streaks of silver. "It's pretty," she offers, not wanting to sound ungrateful even though she's relatively sure she doesn't need a suit for protection.
Tony snorts a little with amusement as he turns back to the suit to twist off one of the gauntlets to survey it before opening up the palm to tinker with the repulsor inside. "It's supposed to protect you, not look pretty." He glances up at her and she notices suddenly just how exhausted he looks. "But thanks," he adds dryly.
She hesitates before getting to her feet and closing the gap between them to place a hand on his shoulder briefly. "Look, I appreciate that you're making me a suit, really. But maybe you ought to get some rest?"
Tony purses his lips a little, shrugging off her hand. "I'm fine. I just need to get this working, maybe start fixing the Mark V so I can make it more portable." He eyes the suit on the wall and Parker doesn't really like the manic look in his eyes, but she lets the issue go.
Perhaps the only negative aspect to her first mission is the fact that she had been caught on camera by a news channel in Harlem that night, which means that she has to attend press conferences and interviews to publicize herself as both Tony Stark's adopted daughter and the Avatar. Pepper has been working long enough for Tony that she's an expert in guiding Parker through the process of scheduling a press conference and morning show interviews.
"There's always going to be someone looking to make a negative statement about you," she says the morning of Parker's press conference, examining her blouse and pencil skirt critically to make sure they aren't wrinkled. "Just ignore them, answer the questions as matter-of-factly as you can, and duck out if you need to. I can always take over. Normally we wouldn't do press conferences with someone as young as you."
"So then why am I being sent out there?" Parker asks plaintively and Pepper gives her a sympathetic smile.
"You're a special case."
Parker rolls her eyes. "I'm a special case in every scenario, apparently."
Pepper bites her lip to stifle a smile as she adds, "People need a name and a face to the person they saw on TV that night, and it's a lot less negative press if you show them you're not dangerous."
"But I am dangerous," Parker says dryly and Pepper gives up on hiding her smile.
"Well, it's probably best not to advertise that." She smooths down Parker's hair carefully before checking her watch. "It's time."
Parker almost wishes Pepper would keep stroking her hair, if only because it keeps her nerves marginally at bay. "Okay." She chews her lip anxiously as Pepper leads her onto the small stage, ducking her head against the onslaught of camera flashes and loud voices shouting questions in her direction. It's already overwhelming and she has to stamp down the instinct to bolt from the stage.
Pepper takes the microphone on the podium first, ushering Parker just behind her.
"Good morning. Thank you all for coming today." Her tone is sharp and professional, and Parker's reminded of Phil whenever he answers a call while working. "I'm sure you're all aware that we're here to address the recent events in Harlem, New York, last week. On Mr. Stark's behalf, I'd like to introduce his adopted daughter, Parker, to answer any questions you may have." She steps aside to let Parker take the microphone just as the news that Tony Stark has adopted someone sinks in and the reporters begin clamoring for answers, shouting out questions. Parker gapes at them all, feeling rather stupid for several moments, before finally having had enough.
"Can everyone shut up and wait their turn, please?" she blurts out into the microphone and the room falls silent almost instantly, allowing her to hear Pepper stifle a tiny chuckle behind her. "Oh. Cool, thanks." She feels her cheeks warm with embarrassment and clenches her hands on either side of the podium to stop herself from running offstage. "Just, uh, raise your hand if you have questions, I guess?" Everyone's hands shoot up instantly. "Oh. Um. Okay." She glances at Pepper, feeling overwhelmed, and Pepper just nods reassuringly, which Parker thinks is meant to help, but doesn't.
She tentatively turns back to the crowd of waiting reporters and points awkwardly at one of the reporters in the front row. The reporter stands, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder, and Parker can already tell she's not going to like this woman. "Christine Everhart, from Vanity Fair."
Parker hears a tiny strangled noise from behind her, but when she looks back over her shoulder, Pepper's expression is carefully blank. She turns back to Christine, not sure how to reply. "Um, hi, Christine," she tries.
"Oh my God, she's adorable," somebody in the crowd whispers, which causes the reporters to start muttering amongst themselves and scribbling things down. Parker feels her face heat up more as she resists the urge to run her hand through her hair and mess it up.
Christine looks a little taken aback. "Hi, Parker," she answers instinctively, but then clears her throat and returns to her professional mask. "Am I right in assuming you're the teenage girl we saw on the news last week in Harlem?"
"Um, yes, that was me." Parker takes a deep breath, glancing back at Pepper to make sure she's saying the right thing and receiving a nod before plunging ahead, "I was there because I was asked by the army to assist in capturing a fugitive." She feels a twist of guilt in her stomach, calling Bruce a fugitive when he had clearly been in the right, but she can't change how the world sees him.
"Why would the army enlist the help of a minor in capturing a fugitive?" Christine was scribbling notes on her notepad, keeping her eyes on Parker as she writes.
"I'm, uh." Parker feels her throat go dry and grabs the glass of water on the side of the podium to take a gulp before setting it down again. "I'm the Avatar." Phil had told her she would have to admit what she was to the press, but it doesn't make the sudden awkward, nervous silence she receives any less unnerving. Some reporters in the audience even look afraid of her, and she feels her stomach drop a little. "My job's to keep the world in balance," she continues, unsure what else to say. "That's why I was in Harlem last week. And why I'll keep being wherever I'm needed."
"But you're just a kid," Christine points out, pursing her lips. "Not to mention you're apparently under Tony Stark's guardianship."
"What's that got to do with anything?" Parker tenses and Pepper places a hand on her shoulder, which helps her relax marginally.
"I'm just saying that it's been made very clear in the past several years that Mr. Stark is in no condition to raise a child and it's not particularly beneficial for the Avatar to live with-" Christine begins and Pepper's grip on Parker's shoulder tightens just before Parker shrugs it off.
"You know what's not beneficial for the Avatar?" she snaps. "Being told all my life I'm a freak because I can do things other people can't. Being moved around from foster home to foster home for thirteen years because of what I could do. Never having a real home until a few months ago." Christine stares at her, gaping like a fish. "I'm happier than I've ever been in my life since Tony adopted me. And anyone who thinks they've got a right to pass judgment on my life or my dad's ought to mind their own business." She steps back from the microphone as the room erupts into noise again. "I'm done," she says quietly to Pepper. "I'm sorry. I don't wanna talk to them if they're all gonna be like her."
"It's okay," Pepper answers and Parker's relieved to see that she's smiling a little proudly. "You did well. Happy's got the car waiting outside, go out backstage. I'll take care of them."
"Thanks." Parker hurries offstage and out the back door, where Happy is leaning on the car door.
"Well, that was fast, I wasn't expecting you for another half hour," he points out as he opens the backseat door for her. She slides inside, exhaling a little in relief as he gets into the driver's seat and the car starts moving down the road. "I'm guessing it didn't go well?" he asks, glancing back up at her in the rearview mirror.
"Ugh," she says simply in response, sinking down in her seat as far as she can with a seatbelt on and burying her face into her hands.
He snorts with laughter. "Relax. No matter what you said, I can guarantee the boss has said way worse."
"Did he ever tell an entire room of reporters to shut up?" she mutters into her hands and he hums consideringly.
"At some point, probably." She peeks up at the rearview mirror to find him giving her a sympathetic smile. "It'll be fine. Ms. Potts can handle the press."
"I hope so." Parker tilts her head back against the seat and shuts her eyes, half-hoping she'll open them to find that the conference had never happened.
Instead, the next time she opens her eyes, the car's come to a stop outside the mansion and Happy's gently nudging her shoulder.
"I'd've let you sleep a little longer, but I've gotta head back and pick up Ms. Potts," he says apologetically as she rubs her eyes.
"It's okay. Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." She unbuckles her seatbelt and climbs out of the car. "Thanks for the ride home."
"Anytime, Park." He squeezes her shoulder before getting back into the driver's seat. Parker slips inside the mansion, watching the car disappear around the corner from the front window before toeing off her shoes and heading to the living room.
As she rounds the corner, she hears her own voice snapping, "-anyone who thinks they've got a right to pass judgment on my life or my dad's ought to mind their own business." A sound like a breath being sucked in sharply follows that and she enters the living room to find the television playing a news program. An anchor is speaking and Parker's face is frozen mid-word in a small frame in the top-right corner of the screen.
Tony is sitting on the couch, staring at the television as if he's not really seeing it, and Parker feels her stomach sink with dread at the look on his face. "Did I mess it up?" she asks quietly and he starts at the sound of her voice, quickly muting the television and spinning around to face her as he plasters a smile on his face.
"What? No, of course not. You did great."
"Then why did you look like I kicked DUM-E when I walked in?" she points out and he rolls his eyes.
"You're reading too much into it. You did fine, the press conference went well. See? Pepper handled it after you left." He gestures to the television, where Pepper is now speaking quickly with a scowl on her face.
"She doesn't look that happy about it, either," Parker says dryly and Tony wrinkles his nose as he looks at the screen again.
"Well, that's because she doesn't have much patience for idiots like Christine Everhart. Especially considering she upset you."
"I was wondering if you two had some kind of history with her, she seemed bitter," Parker muses as she sits on the couch and Tony snorts a little as he relaxes back onto the couch beside her.
"Mainly just me who has history with her, but yeah, I'm not surprised she got under your skin." He squeezes her knee reassuringly. "You did just fine, Park, relax." He cracks a grin. "My favorite part was when somebody in the audience called you adorable."
Parker groans as she drops her head into her hands. "It got caught on video? I was hoping the microphones wouldn't pick it up."
"The clip is already trending on YouTube," JARVIS chimes in. "The video is aptly titled, 'The new Avatar is hashtag relatable.' I've saved a copy for future embarrassment purposes."
"Destroy it, please," Parker requests, wondering why exactly Tony gave JARVIS the option to save videos for future embarrassment purposes.
"Ignore her, keep it forever," Tony insists quickly.
"Unfortunately, Miss Parker, Mr. Stark's wishes override yours," JARVIS answers dryly.
"But I said please!" she protests.
"When you build your own AI, you can have them accept manners over the creator's wishes," Tony answers with a chuckle and she elbows him in response, earning a grimace as he rubs his side. "Your elbows are sharp," he complains.
"Why'd you look like I kicked DUM-E when I walked in?" she demands again.
"It's nothing, really." She stares at him pointedly and it only takes a few moments for him to cave. "You've never called me your dad before."
She suddenly feels like he'd punched her in the stomach while wearing one of his Iron Man gauntlets. "Oh. Sorry. I won't do it again." She shuffles off the couch to head upstairs, feeling the corners of her eyes burn.
When she's halfway up the stairs, Tony seems to piece together what had just happened and calls hurriedly after her, "Wait, that's not what I meant!" She ignores him, climbing the rest of the stairs and slipping into her room before locking the door behind herself.
"Shall I inform Mr. Stark to give you some space?" JARVIS offers as she curls up in her window-seat, drawing her knees to her chest.
"Yes, please," she mumbles, her voice cracking as hot tears roll down her cheeks. She swipes at her cheeks half-heartedly, adding, "Turn off for a little while in my room, too."
"As you wish," JARVIS answers and she hears the quiet hum that's usually the sign of him active in her room die down until it's completely silent. She buries her face into her hands, allowing her tears to fall freely until her eyes hurt too much for tears to form in them anymore.
She half-wishes she hadn't asked JARVIS to leave, because now she feels too isolated and all she wants to do is go down to the beach to practice her bending, but to do that, she would have to pass Tony. She peers down from the window to the sand below, wondering if she can somehow jump down without breaking every bone in her legs. The sand can cushion her fall, as can a burst of air if she times it right. She pushes open the window and swings one leg out before she decides not to risk it and yanks it back inside, shutting the window again.
Getting to her feet, she crosses the room to pick out one of the journals in the box under her bed, flipping through it until she finds the diagram she's looking for. Maybe she can at least test her ability to bend from a distance.
She settles back in by the window again, focusing on the waves breaking on the shore below and holding her hand out to try and call them. The water splashes upwards a little half-heartedly, but then settles back down. Exhaling a little impatiently, she pulls the water to her again with a flick of her wrist and the nearest wave floats upwards away from the sand before dropping again with a sharp slap against the ground that she can hear even through the thick glass window.
Snapping the journal shut, she gets to her feet and tugs her hand back as hard as she can, clenching her fist. Before she knows it, the glass shatters and something long and sharp flies towards her. She screams and drops to the ground so that it flies over her head. When she dares to look up again, she finds a dangerously sharp-looking icicle embedded in the wall right where her head had been moments earlier.
The lock disengaging with a quiet click is all the warning she gets before the door slams open and Tony rushes in, a gauntlet covering his hand as he raises it in preparation to fire. Parker finds herself scrambling away from him before she can stop herself, realizing how awful it looks with an icicle embedded in the wall and her window smashed.
"I'm sorry," she blurts out hurriedly. "I didn't mean to, I was just trying to practice, I didn't know it'd turn into ice and break the window, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened."
Slowly, Tony lowers his gauntlet and she sees how pale he is, the dark circles under his eyes standing out. "No one's attacking you?" he asks, sounding just as shaken as she does, and she feels like she's been hit over the head by a ton of bricks as she shakes her head. Exhaling shakily, he tears off the gauntlet and drops it before collapsing to his knees and pulling her against his chest. For a terrifyingly confusing moment, she thinks he's punishing her for breaking the window by crushing her.
"I'm sorry," she repeats, her voice breaking as she squirms to try and push him away before he can tighten his hold on her. "I didn't mean to break the window-"
"Forget the goddamn window," Tony says roughly and she flinches, but there's no anger in his voice as he hauls her closer until she's wrapped up properly in his arms, clutching her like a lifeline. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay," she reassures him, realizing at last that he isn't angry at her, and he presses his face into her hair as he releases a slow, shaky breath.
"Okay. Good." He pats her back gently before pulling away, swiping quickly at his eyes, but not before Parker sees how red and puffy they are. "And you said you didn't need a suit," he tries to joke, but Parker feels like there's a hollow pit in her stomach as she looks up at the half-melted icicle still in the wall.
"I've never made ice before," she says quietly. "And I haven't had an incident like that in a long time." If someone else had been standing there instead of her and hadn't ducked in time...
The thought of it makes her stomach turn as she huddles in against Tony's chest again, ignoring how the arc reactor's edge presses uncomfortably against her shoulder, and he slips his arms back around her instinctively.
"It's okay. We'll talk to Coulson about it." It doesn't make her feel much better, but the quiet hum of the arc reactor against her ear helps her relax slowly.
"How'd you get in, anyway?" she asks after a few moments of silence. "I locked the door."
"JARVIS unlocked it. Emergency protocol allows him to access any lock in the house," Tony answers simply.
"But I asked him to turn off," she points out, frowning.
"I'm sorry, Miss Parker, but my emergency protocol overrode your request and gave me access to your room," JARVIS answers apologetically from overhead. "I can turn off again now if you'd like."
She shakes her head before realizing JARVIS probably can't see her. "No, that's okay."
"Might I suggest then that you both get off the floor covered in broken glass?" JARVIS offers dryly.
Tony glances around them before muttering a swearword and then glancing sharply at Parker. "Don't repeat that." She finally cracks a smile as he ushers her to her feet and out of the room. "I'll take care of the glass, you go wait downstairs in the living room."
"But I caused the mess, I should clean it," she insists and he waves it off.
"I'm not about to make you handle broken glass, now go wait downstairs. I'll take care of it." She reluctantly obeys, deciding not to push her luck in case he decides to be angry with her for breaking the window.
Pepper enters the mansion just as Parker sits down on the living room couch, looking exhausted and annoyed as she drops her briefcase by the couch. "God, I can't stand that woman," she mutters.
"Did I really screw it up? Answering her question?" Parker asks tentatively and Pepper huffs a chuckle.
"No, of course not. You gave her the slap in the face she deserved." She sinks down onto the couch, frowning as she tilts her head up towards the ceiling. "Is that a vacuum?" Parker belatedly realizes she can hear the sound of a vacuum moving overhead.
"Oh. Yeah, Tony's probably vacuuming." She tries to play it off as something that happens regularly.
"Why exactly is Tony being allowed to handle a vacuum?" Pepper raises an eyebrow and grins a little, teasing, "We talked about this, Park, you're responsible for making sure he doesn't handle house appliances."
Parker ducks her head, embarrassed. "He, um, may or may not be cleaning up the window I broke."
When she looks up again, Pepper's smile is gone and an alarmed, worried expression is on her face instead. "You broke a window?" she repeats slowly.
"I didn't mean to," Parker insists quickly. "I was just practicing bending and then this icicle just came out of nowhere through the window and-"
"An icicle?!" Pepper's voice rises a little, a note of hysteria in it.
"It's fine, Pepper," Tony calls as he comes down the stairs, hauling a bag of broken glass with him. Parker drops her gaze again, too embarrassed to look at the damage she's done. "She's fine, the house is fine. We just need to replace that window and fix the wall where the icicle got embedded." He disappears into the garage to throw out the bag.
"Embedded," Pepper echoes faintly, closing her eyes as she tilts her head against the back of the couch. "An icicle embedded in the wall." Parker bites her lip before inching a little closer to press against Pepper's side.
"I'm sorry," she offers quietly. "I didn't mean to."
Pepper opens her eyes quickly, managing a soft smile. "Oh, hey, no. It's okay, accidents happen." She slides her arm around Parker's shoulders to pull her close and Parker sinks into the warm embrace readily.
"Oh, sure, when she breaks a window, it's all 'accidents happen,' but when I do it, I'm a 'menace to society,'" Tony grumbles as he reenters the living room, sinking down on Parker's other side on the couch. "Gimme my kid." Pepper relinquishes her hold on Parker with a soft chuckle so that Tony can tug her into his side instead.
"Your kid?" she says suddenly as his words sink in, looking back up at him tentatively, and he cracks a tiny smile back at her, an apology behind it.
"Well, you are, aren't you?" A little bubble of happiness swells in her chest as she nods, curling back into his side.
"Yeah. I am."
Why is it that my writer's block clears up only when I'm supposed to be studying for an exam? lololol
This is a really difficult semester for me, so please bear with me while I try to get out chapters. I know they're short, but if I made them any longer, it'd take literal years to update. It's happened. I've tried.
Hope you enjoy and I'll try to get into the next Marvel movie ASAP (expect time jumps!).