Chapter 8

As the weeks pass and summer turns into fall and then almost immediately transitions into winter, Parker's training intensifies following her incident. She barely has time for schoolwork or her programming practice, but finds herself either holed up in the basement gyms of SHIELD's headquarters or out on the beach by the mansion practicing her bending.

The media is mysteriously silent after Parker's disastrous press conference, although she has a feeling that's more to do with Pepper's eerily professional shutdown of any tabloid articles or reporters looking to frame Parker in a negative light. However, now she has to contend with politics far above her head, as she is invited to an formal gathering of the United Nations to introduce herself to as many world leaders as possible.

Phil keeps a list of countries and their leaders on hand every time he sees her and quizzes her on each of them so that she remembers each one, but even with her relatively decent memory, there are too many names to keep track of.

"Come on, Park, I know you know the king of Wakanda's name," Phil sighs as Parker wracks her brain, one hand tangling in her hair and tugging on a strand absently as she thinks.

"It's got an apostrophe in it?" she offers plaintively and Phil takes pity on her.

"King T'Chaka," he informs her and she mentally repeats it a few times. "You'll want to remember him most, even though Wakanda's one of the smallest of the attending countries. He's bringing his son T'Challa to the event as part of his political training, so you'll have another teenager to hang around when you're not being forced to socialize."

Pepper delights in taking Parker shopping for her first evening dress a few weeks before the gala and Parker only barely winces at the price tags, a little more used to how frivolously Tony spends his money than she had been when she had first started living with him. She's forced to hold still as a tailor measures her in a bottle-green long-sleeved dress Pepper chooses for her, sticking pins in the fabric and making notes on a little notepad for alterations.

"Well, at least you behave better than Mr. Stark when he gets his fittings done," he mutters as he puts his things away once he's done, sticking his pencil behind his ear, and Pepper bites her lip to stifle a laugh.

"Just for that, I'll be sure to pencil him in for you later this week, Lorenzo," she informs the tailor as she ushers Parker off the podium.

"Why, what event is he going to?" Parker asks as she makes her way to the fitting room to change back into her jeans and hoodie.

"The same one as you," Pepper points out dryly and Parker stands on her toes so that Pepper can see her bewildered expression over the fitting room door. "You didn't think you were going alone, did you?" Pepper asks, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Honestly, kind of," Parker admits as she sinks back down again so that she can finish changing. "I guess I just thought I'd be thrown headfirst into this publicity stuff after the press conference." She exits the dressing room and hands off the dress to Lorenzo, who disappears into the back to start working on the alterations.

"Well, originally, we were planning to let you go on your own," Pepper explains as she ushers Parker out of the store. "But Tony suggested that it might be overwhelming for you to meet so many people at once. Not because you can't handle it!" she hurries to add as Parker opens her mouth indignantly to protest. "You did great at the press conference, we know you can handle people. He just knows what it's like to be in the spotlight from a young age. He means well."

"Fine," Parker huffs, making a show of sighing dramatically as she collapses into the backseat of the waiting car and Pepper rolls her eyes fondly as she slides into the seat beside Parker and Happy begins driving them home.

"You look fine," Tony insists, batting Parker's hands away as she fiddles with the sleeves of her dress. "Stop fidgeting, you don't want to look nervous in front of these people."

"Sorry." She does her best to keep her hands still in her lap, but finds herself picking at the skin on her fingertips anxiously instead.

They had flown into New York City that afternoon and are on their way to the banquet hall where the gala is being held. A light layer of snow coats the sidewalks and streets, which normally would fascinate Parker, but she's so focused on repeating the names of world leaders mentally and figuring out what to say to them that she can't bring herself to appreciate seeing snow for the first time in real life.

"Hey." Tony presses his hand over both of hers, covering them. "You're going to do fine. Stop overthinking things."

"But I always overthink things," she protests.

"I know, it's why I worry sometimes that we might actually be related somehow," he deadpans before squeezing her hands gently. "You've been preparing a long time for tonight. You've got this. And if you get overwhelmed, just find me and stick by me. Okay?"

She swallows, nodding. "Okay."

In the end, the gala isn't all that bad. Most people just shake her hand briefly and introduce themselves before moving on, and Tony's presence, just a few feet away at all times, helps keep her nerves at bay. To her immense relief, she doesn't forget anyone's names and is especially reassured when she remembers the names of King T'Chaka and his seventeen-year-old son, T'Challa, as they approach her an hour after the gala begins.

"My sister Shuri would have loved to come, too," T'Challa says as he shakes Parker's hand firmly. "She has been jealous that I get to meet you for weeks now."

"That's because your sister wants to study Parker's bending," T'Chaka reminds his son with a chuckle, patting his shoulder, and T'Challa shrugs modestly.

"If anyone can figure out how it works, it would be Shuri."

"Hey, if she can figure it out and teach me, more power to her," Parker jokes, earning identical broad grins from both of them.

"You could visit sometime and meet her in person," T'Chaka offers, "Not many outsiders come to Wakanda, but the Avatar has always been welcome in our country."

"I'd like that," Parker agrees, not sure if she actually wants to visit a tiny country filled with nothing but African savannah and farmlands, but wanting to remain polite.

"We'll work something out when Parker's a little older," Tony says as he appears behind Parker, his hand resting on her shoulder. "I don't feel comfortable letting her travel on her own just yet."

"Of course, that is understandable," T'Chaka agrees, although T'Challa looks a little disappointed.

"I'd love to show you my country one day," he tells Parker earnestly and she gives him a small smile in return.

"I can't wait to see it," she reassures him before letting Tony steer her away. "They seem nicer than a lot of people I met tonight," she points out under her breath so that only he can hear. "I don't see why I can't visit them sometime."

"You're still only thirteen. I wasn't kidding when I said I don't feel comfortable sending you halfway across the world on your own," Tony says with a small shrug, swiping a flute of champagne and a glass of sparkling cider from a passing waiter. "When you're older, we'll talk about it."

She huffs a little, accepting the offered sparkling cider to take a sip. "Dad, you went to college when you were thirteen."

"That's different," Tony dismisses, although she sees him turn a little pink as he downs the champagne. He's still easily flustered whenever she calls him "Dad," especially in public, but he's slowly getting used to it, to Parker's relief.

Before Parker knows it, over a year flies by, a result of the intense training and schooling she puts herself through. She completes her tenth-grade curriculum painfully slowly, taking her final exams just after her fifteenth birthday, and enrolls in some online courses to begin teaching herself basic programming languages at her own pace in the meantime. Tony and Phil make it no secret how proud they are of her progress, despite how slow it is, and the praise never fails to make the bubble of happiness in Parker's chest swell. She can't remember ever feeling like she belonged somewhere more - and then everything changes when she walks into the mansion's gym one day to find Natasha Romanoff climbing out of the boxing ring and leaving behind a wheezing Happy, who's sprawled on the floor.

She gapes at the scene, wondering why exactly Natasha had come to her house - she usually meets Natasha at SHIELD headquarters to train - and then Tony says cheerfully from where he's standing on the sidelines next to a scowling Pepper, "Looks like a TKO to me!"

"What," Parker says, bewildered, and Natasha looks sharply at her. It's then that Parker realizes that Natasha is dressed in a white blouse and dark pencil skirt, her hair loose and falling over her shoulders in dark red waves. It finally hits Parker that she's there undercover, although for what reason, she still doesn't know.

"Park, this is Pepper's new secretary, Natalie Rushman," Tony says, waving her over.

"Natalie," Parker repeats skeptically as she makes her way over to them and Natasha narrows her eyes in a subtle glare. "Nice to meet you," Parker amends her tone quickly, shaking her hand, and Natasha relaxes marginally.

"It's good to meet you, too." She turns to Tony. "I need your impression."

Tony makes a show of thinking. "You have a quiet reserve. An old soul, I guess."

Natasha purses her lips. "I mean your fingerprint." She holds out a tablet that she seems to have whipped out from nowhere.

"Right." Tony swipes his thumb over the tablet.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"No," Tony says.

"Yes, that will be all, Ms. Rushman," Pepper says at the same time, standing on Tony's foot pointedly. "Thank you." Natasha heads for the door, making eye contact briefly with Parker, and Parker nods as subtly as she can back to her. Natasha cracks a tiny smile at last before slipping out of the gym, leaving Parker to turn back to Tony and Pepper.

"Why does Pepper need a secretary?" she asks, bewildered.

"Well, every CEO needs a secretary," Tony says with a shrug and Parker frowns.

"CEO?"

"I quit being Tony's secretary and he decided to reinstate me in his place," Pepper clarifies with a long-suffering sigh.

"I'm confused." Parker turns to Tony. "If you're not the CEO, what do you plan to do?"

Tony shrugs mildly. "Keep inventing, work on my suits. Gives me more time to research if I'm not stuck doing office work." He doesn't quite meet her eyes, though, and she has the nagging feeling that something's wrong.

"Is everything okay?"

"Sure." Tony looks up at her again, startled. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Okay." Parker chews her lip, but decides to let the subject drop. "Well, I'm gonna head down to the beach to practice my firebending."

"Be safe," Pepper calls after her as she leaves.

Parker's relieved to find Natasha waiting outside the mansion once she walks out the front door. "What're you doing here?" she demands and Natasha rolls her eyes.

"Fury wants me to monitor Stark for a little while. Relax, kid, it's nothing personal." She squeezes Parker's shoulder briefly. "Just don't do anything to give me away until this is over."

"Why does Fury want to monitor Tony?" Parker shrugs Natasha's hand off her shoulder, frowning, and Natasha sighs heavily.

"Look, it's got nothing to do with you, so don't worry about it. Keep your head down, and I'll hopefully be out of your hair in just a couple weeks. Okay?"

"Does this have to do with him resigning as CEO?" Parker asks and Natasha chews her lip.

"I can't say anything. I'm sorry." She looks sincerely apologetic, which makes Parker's anger fade just a little.

"Okay. Just...if something's wrong, will you at least tell me?"

Natasha bites her lip again. "I'll do my best," she promises, which is all Parker knows to expect from her.

"Yeah, okay." She heads for the beach, intent on getting out her pent-up frustration with some firebending practice. Something about the way the flames erupt around her clenched fists always seems to soothe her temper.

"And remember, it's Natalie while I'm here," Natasha calls after her and Parker waves over her shoulder to acknowledge it.

"Something's going on here that nobody's telling me," Parker blurts out in frustration as she hangs upside-down off Phil's couch and he peers down at her from behind the couch, vaguely amused.

"Like what?"

"Well, the reason that I'm here instead of at home, for one," she points out.

"You know it's Stark's birthday party tonight. And there's going to be alcohol and he doesn't want you around that. Neither do I, for that matter."

"I could've just stayed in my room," she mutters sullenly.

"Look, he had a reason for having me watch you tonight." Phil looks suddenly uncomfortable, though, and Parker sits up.

"So you know why he's been acting weird."

"I didn't say that." Phil purposely avoids meeting her eyes. "Stark's eccentric, you know that."

"I've been living with him for two years now, I know he is," she points out. "But driving a race car in Monaco and resigning as CEO of his own company and throwing crazy house parties all of a sudden? That's not normal, even for him."

Phil chews his lip. "I just think it's for him to tell you what's going on, not me." He pointedly turns away from her to head into the kitchen. "How about spaghetti for dinner?" he changes the subject, his voice forcibly cheerful.

"Yeah, okay." Parker lays back down on the couch, her stomach turning at just the thought of eating anything due to her nerves, but not wanting to turn down Phil's cooking, either. "Even Natasha gets to be there," she mumbles irritably after a moment.

"Agent Romanoff's on a surveillance mission and you know that," Phil reminds her.

"I could light your couch on fire if you don't tell me what's going on, you know," she threatens.

"And you'd feel guilty about it for the rest of your life if you do." She sits up again to find Phil smiling wryly at her over the divider between the living room and the kitchen. "Don't forget, Park, I've known you all your life."

"Ugh," she complains, flopping back down again and earning a laugh from him as he goes back to retrieving ingredients from the cupboards. She reaches for the remote on the coffee table, flipping the television on with the intent of channel-surfing to keep her mind off her worry for Tony, and then promptly drops the remote when she recognizes the destroyed mansion on the screen.

"Oh, no," Phil says when he sees what she's looking at.

"I should go," Parker says as she scrambles off the couch, but Phil hurries out of the kitchen to grab her wrist.

"Park, there's nothing you can do. The situation's already handled."

"But-" she tries to protest as she glances back at the screen to see the news camera focusing now on two Iron Man suits bursting through the walls of the house - one red and gold and the other silver - and pummeling each other to the ground. The silver suit shakes off the red and gold one, the helmet briefly flipping up to reveal a familiar face - Rhodey, Tony's friend that Parker's only met a handful of times - before taking off into the air. The red and gold suit - Tony - climbs to his feet and wavers for a moment before taking off in the other direction.

"I know what it looks like," Phil insists. "Fury's got it handled, though. He's going to find Stark in the morning."

"I wanna go, too," Parker says immediately. "I need to know what's happening."

Phil shakes his head. "We'll go over to the mansion tomorrow once Fury debriefs him and brings him back. For now, you need to eat your dinner and get some sleep."

"How am I supposed to do any of that when this is going on?!" Parker gestures frantically at the screen.

Phil lets go of her wrist to grasp her shoulders. "I know you're worried, but hopefully when I take you home tomorrow, Stark will explain everything to you."

"Hopefully," Parker echoes skeptically. "That pretty much means you don't think he will."

"Leave it until tomorrow." Phil lets go of her shoulders to head back into the kitchen. Parker debates briefly whether to just open the front door and make a run for it, but grudgingly decides to head back to the couch.

Parker feels a little twinge of satisfaction the moment she rounds the corner of the destroyed mansion and Tony turns white as a sheet where he's sitting at a table with Nick Fury.

"Hey, Park," he tries for a cheerful tone, plastering a smile on his face. "Did you have fun staying over at Coulson's place?"

"Sure, up until I turned the news on," she deadpans, crossing her arms.

"Told you you should've said something to her sooner, Stark," Natasha says and it's then that Parker notices her leaning on the undamaged section of wall near him, dressed in her usual SHIELD uniform.

"You broke your cover?" she asks and Tony gapes at her.

"Wait, you knew about her?" He gestures at Natasha.

"Who do you think Parker trains with at SHIELD?" Natasha says with a smirk and Tony slouches in his chair, scowling.

"So everybody knew except me?"

"Pepper and Happy didn't," Parker offers, but then remembers that she's still angry at him. "What the hell happened?"

Tony grimaces. "So the party got a little out of hand."

"A little out of hand," Parker echoes dryly and makes a show of looking around the damaged walls and shattered glass surrounding them before looking back at Tony and raising an eyebrow pointedly.

He avoids meeting her eyes. "Yep. Sorry about that. Your room's still intact, I checked."

"I don't care about my room, I care about you," Parker retorts sharply, making him wince slightly and drop his gaze to his knees.

"I've told you what needs to be done, Stark," Fury says, turning their collective attention to him as he gets to his feet. Parker's only met him a few times, but he still makes her slightly nervous. "Parker, how do you feel about your first official mission?"

"My what," Parker says dumbly, startled that he's actually addressing her, and he cracks a wry smile.

"Keep an eye on him." He jabs a thumb in Tony's direction and claps Parker's shoulder as he passes her.

"That's a stupid first mission!" Parker protests after him and Natasha snorts with amusement as she pushes herself off the wall.

"We've disabled all communication," she informs Tony. "No contact with the outside world." She casts a glance at Parker. "And tell her already, she deserves to know," she adds sharply to Tony before squeezing Parker's shoulder on her way out.

"Tell me what?" Parker asks plaintively.

Tony purposely avoids answering her and focuses on Phil behind her instead. "So how do I convince you to make a Starbucks run?"

"I'm not here for that. I've been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet," Phil says pleasantly.

"Phil!" Parker says, horrified, and he shrugs mildly at her.

"Hey, I've got orders."

"Yeah, whatever, I got it," Tony grumbles, pushing himself to his feet and making his way into the house through the gaping hole in the wall. He picks his way past debris and heads down the stairs as Parker follows him, clambering over chunks of plaster and concrete on her way down to the lab.

"What're you hiding from me?" she demands as Tony heads for his work table, which is now scattered with dust and debris, and reaches into a drawer to pull out a thin silver device. He presses his thumb to it, wincing a little as it pricks his finger, and studies the display on the little screen before exhaling heavily and shoving the device over for Parker to read. "60% toxicity?" she reads the display out loud.

"Would be higher if 'Agent Romanoff' hadn't hit me with some lithium dioxide," Tony says, putting air-quotes around Natasha's name. "It temporarily abates the symptoms of, uh...palladium poisoning." He keeps his eyes firmly fixed away from her.

"Poisoning?" she echoes slowly as it sinks in. "You're dying?" Something in her chest tightens painfully.

"Parker-" he begins wearily.

"Were you ever planning to tell me that your arc reactor was killing you?" she demands angrily.

"I didn't want you to worry!" he protests.

"Because I wasn't worried earlier," she points out sarcastically. "When you were doing stupid stunts like jumping out of the plane at the Expo a couple weeks ago, or driving the race car in Monaco, or trashing the house last night. When were you going to let me find out, at your funeral?"

"Look, I get it." Tony takes a tentative step towards her and she sees suddenly just how shaky his movements are. "I should've told you earlier. I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you until I found a cure for it."

"Will it work at this stage of toxicity?" Parker drops her gaze away from him, unable to look at him now that she's finally noticed just how pale he is.

"It'll work," he says, although he doesn't sound convinced. "I've got some of my dad's old research here, I'll find something."

"Yeah. Okay." She shuffles on the spot, kicking at a stray piece of rubble at her feet to avoid meeting his eyes. "What can I do to help?" Her voice cracks on the last word, giving away just how upset she is even though she hadn't wanted Tony to see it.

He's silent for a moment, but then moves forward to wrap his arms around her tightly. She does her best not to move, but then he ducks his head to press his cheek against the top of her head and the lump in her throat tightens until she's choking on a sob. Tony's grip on her tightens protectively and she buries her face into his chest, her forehead pressing into the edge of the arc reactor.

"I'll fix this," he promises her quietly. "It's going to be okay, Park, I promise."

"You said you were trying to find a cure," she says in response, not liking the way her voice wobbles. "But it just feels like all you've been doing is preparing to die." Tony doesn't answer, and Parker finally lets the tears in her eyes fall against the front of his shirt.

"There's no new blueprints here on the arc reactor," Parker complains as they sift through the box, an old video of Howard Stark playing on the holographic screen behind them. "How are we supposed to find a replacement for the palladium core if there's nothing you haven't seen before?"

"Fury said my dad hid something in here for me to find," Tony explains as he grabs a journal to rifle through it absently. "Maybe he found a new replacement material."

"But you said you tried every other element in existence," Parker points, frowning as she grabs a book of her own to look through.

"Yeah." Tony grimaces as he keeps looking through the book.

"So from all of us at Stark Industries, I would like to personally - Tony, what are you doing back there?" Parker looks up at the screen to find Howard moving around the model of the Stark Expo to retrieve a younger Tony, who looks to be just barely out of his toddler years. "What is that?" He snatches away the model building Tony had picked up and the little boy's lip quivers, as if he's about to cry. "Where's your mother? Maria?" he calls even as he shoos Tony away. "Go on. Go, go, go." An assistant hurries into the frame, scooping Tony up and carrying him off-screen.

"You were a cute kid," Parker says when she notices the real Tony watching the screen, too, and he cracks a grin.

"Yeah, I know I was." She rolls her eyes and kicks at his ankle lightly. "Shame my dad didn't think so."

They watch as the video cuts to another footage reel of Howard discussing the Stark Expo for a few more seconds before Tony returns to rifling through the box of Howard's research. Parker keeps glancing between the journal in her hands and the screen, trying to wrap her head around how Howard Stark could have ever treated his son so harshly.

"He wasn't the affectionate type." She starts slightly, glancing back at Tony to find him watching her with a small, wry smile. "Never did anything to prove he cared." He drops his gaze away from her, chewing his lip. "When he died, and I was supposed to look after you, I just...I couldn't. I didn't want to be the dad he was to me."

Parker frowns. "But you're not. You're a great dad."

Tony blinks back at her, taken aback, before flushing slightly and fiddling with the book in his hands self-consciously. "Thanks." He flips through the journal before exhaling quietly and dropping it back into the box. "Nothing."

"I got nothing, too." Parker pitches her own journal into the box, where it lands neatly on top of the pile.

"Two points," Tony deadpans.

"Tony." Both of them look up at the screen sharply, expecting to see Howard chastising a younger Tony again, but Howard is staring directly at the camera this time. "You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you. And someday, you'll realise that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world." He smiles faintly. "What is and always will be my greatest creation is you." The video finally ends and Parker looks at Tony to find that his eyes are suspiciously bright and shiny.

"I have to go." He sets the box aside and gets to his feet. "You keep looking through the box, I need to talk to Pepper."

"Isn't she at work?" Parker points out. "And Phil said he'd tase you if you stepped off the property."

"I'll be fine. Stay here, keep looking." Tony hesitates before closing the space between them to wrap his arms around her shoulders. "I'll be back soon."

Parker leans heavily into his embrace, shutting her eyes briefly. "Yeah. Okay, Dad." Once Tony disappears up the stairs, she leans back into her chair, scrubbing at her eyes until they stop stinging. "JARVIS, can you play back that message from Howard?" she requests and JARVIS queues up the video again. She watches through the message again, chewing her lip. "'I built this for you,'" she repeats under her breath, studying the frozen image of Howard in front of the model of the Stark Expo before it finally clicks. "JARVIS, can you get a scan of that model?"

"Unfortunately, Miss Parker, I would need a full view of the model rather than a sideways view captured from the video frames," JARVIS admits apologetically and Parker slumps back into her seat, her one lead gone.

Luckily, Tony returns within the hour, carrying the exact model Parker had been looking for.

"Just what I needed!" She jumps up from her seat and he looks alarmed as she grabs it from him, hauling it onto the desk. "J, can you scan it now?"

"You already figured it out, huh? Here I thought I was being clever," Tony says dryly as JARVIS begins to scan the model.

"1974 model of the Stark Expo complete, Miss Parker," the AI supplies as a blue overlay surrounds the physical model and she pulls the hologram into the air, examining it curiously.

"He said he'd built it for you," she explains to Tony as she tilts the model with a swipe of her hand, sitting back down. "I had a feeling he meant it literally."

"So did I," Tony admits. "I had this model sitting in my office - well, Pepper's office now," he amends. "And luckily, she hadn't thrown it away yet." He snaps his fingers and the model shifts sideways. "How many buildings are in this thing, JARVIS?"

"Shall I include the Belgian waffle stands?" JARVIS offers and Tony huffs a little.

"That was rhetorical, just show me." JARVIS obediently highlights the buildings and Tony sits back in his chair, studying the image. "What's that remind you of, Park?"

"An atom?" Parker guesses, squinting slightly to try and see it.

"And the nucleus would be…" Tony pokes at the center and JARVIS focuses on it. "Highlight the unisphere, lose the footpaths." He waves away the excess details.

"What're you doing?" Parker asks, trying to wrap her head around what she's looking at.

"Discovering - correction, rediscovering a new element." Tony flicks away some landscaping details like trees and shrubbery. "Lose the parking lots, entrances, pathways. Structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework." As JARVIS forms a nucleus, Tony expands it until it surrounds them with little pinpricks of blue light. "Dead for twenty years and still taking me to school. Thanks, Dad," he says with a wry laugh, studying the blueprint before shrinking it down into a compact ball again.

"This is it?" Parker asks, stunned as she stares at the little ball of light in Tony's hand. "This is the new element your dad found?"

"It should serve as a viable replacement for palladium," JARVIS says and Parker feels a twinge of hope settle in her chest. "It is, however, impossible to synthesize."

Tony doesn't look discouraged, climbing to his feet. "We're back in hardware mode. Park, how good has your earthbending gotten?"

"Uh, it's okay, I guess?" She shrugs and he ushers her to her feet.

"Just as long as you can break down the walls I tell you to."

"Heard you broke the perimeter," Phil says disapprovingly as he comes down the stairs just as Parker stamps her foot on the ground, sending a tremor through it to bring a wall crumbling down.

Tony rewards her with a grin before acknowledging Phil, "That was like, three years ago. Where have you been?"

"I was doing stuff," Phil says mulishly.

"Yeah, well, so were we." Tony gestures around them to the scattered pipes and wiring they were working with. "And it worked. So are you going to let us work or not?"

Phil's distracted by something sticking out of one of the boxes Tony had brought back from his office, lifting out a metal circle. "What's this doing here?"

"Is that Cap's shield?" Parker's distracted from her work, too, coming over to take it from Phil and slipping the straps over her forearm. It's heavy, but she still attempts to hold it upright the way she's seen Captain America hold it in her history textbook, standing up straighter and putting on a deeper voice, "Truth, liberty, and justice!"

"It's just a replica," Phil tells her, grinning at her impression.

"And it's exactly what I need," Tony adds, waving her over. "Bring it here."

"Aww, but I wanna be Captain America," she complains goodnaturedly, but obediently props it into place where Tony instructs her to.

"Maybe focus on being the Avatar first," he teases, tugging on a lock of her hair before glancing at Phil. "What did you come down here for?"

"To give Parker her actual first mission," Phil answers and Parker looks up at him, startled. "We're both being reassigned to New Mexico."

"What? Now?" She glances between him and Tony, bewildered. "But I can't leave now!"

"Sure you can," Tony says easily. "I've got this, Park."

"But-" Parker begins to protest, but Tony reaches up to squeeze her shoulder.

"I've got this," he reassures her again. "You go ahead, I'll check in with you soon. Be safe, keep your phone handy."

"Okay." She hesitates before reaching out to wrap her arms around him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. "I love you," she mumbles against his shoulder and he freezes for a long moment, but then hugs her back so tightly that all the breath is squeezed out of her.

"You, too." He pulls back and ducks his head away from her, but not before she sees how bright his eyes are. "Go on, get out of here already." He waves at her and she reluctantly makes her way to the stairs to follow Phil out of the lab.

"So what are we being reassigned to New Mexico for?" she asks as she settles into Lola's passenger seat.

"We've got an 084," Phil informs her. When he sees her bewildered expression, he clarifies, "An unknown object. Locals said it looks like some kind of ancient hammer."

"A hammer?" Parker echoes, bewildered, and Phil nods as he starts driving.

"We're mainly just studying it for now, but Fury wants some security just in case. Barton's already down there, and I figure you can pair up with him to keep an eye on it." Parker remembers Clint Barton as Natasha's usual partner on missions; she's met him a few times, but hardly spoken to him.

"Okay," she agrees reluctantly, turning to watch the ruined mansion fade from sight behind her.

"He'll be okay," Phil reassures her. "You can call him when we reach Puente Antiguo tonight." He pauses. "You know, it's funny."

"What is?" Parker turns back around to face him, frowning.

"Nothing, it's just that Puente Antiguo is where you were born." Phil shrugs mildly. "Just thought it was interesting we were going back there."

"It is?" Parker drops her gaze to her knees, trying to wrap her head around it. "Do...do you think they'd still have records on me? Like, birth records?"

Phil remains silent for a long moment. "Park, I don't want you to get your hopes up," he says eventually. "We looked for your biological parents for a long time. And even if you do find them, what do you want to do with that information?"

"I don't know," she says honestly. "I just want to find out who they are."

Phil sighs heavily. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to poke around in your free time. But for now, I wouldn't recommend you think too much about it. You've got an actual mission to worry about."

"Yeah." Parker doesn't feel much like letting the subject go, but settles in for the long drive down to Puente Antiguo.

So, uh. It's been a while since I wrote anything for this fic. And then Endgame happened (no spoilers, but I died inside) and I needed to write more of this fic.

You can tell I have some disdain for Iron Man 2 by the fact that I crammed it into one chapter and played a little fast and loose with the timeline, but I'm sorry about that! I just honestly didn't like the idea of spending too much time on it when Parker wasn't going to be there for the majority of the movie's events (especially considering she's still a minor and Tony definitely wouldn't have taken her to most of the places in the movie). The good news is, you know which movie is coming up next and Parker is definitely playing a decent role in it! :D

I apologize again for the long wait, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! (And don't spoil Endgame for those who haven't seen it, seriously.)