Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any other Marvel characters. I only own my OC.

A/N: Here's an update...finally! Need I ask if you guys have watched WandaVision or Falcon and the Winter Solider? They both made me excited for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Anyways, I'm super glad that it's been confirmed that the show Malcolm in the Middle is canon in the MCU. If you guys have watched WandaVision then you know what I am referring to. It's one of my fave shows. I also used to watch it all the time whenever I went to Mexico to visit my family. The show was really popular over there. It's so nostalgic and funny. Hence why I decided to mention it in this chapter. And you all already know that I do not own Malcolm in the Middle.

Black Widow was amazing. I saw it in theaters with my family and it was a cinematic experience. This movie is definitely theater worthy. If you can, and obviously if you take the right precautions (wear masks please). I am going to rewatch it on Disney+. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet but I will say that the intro was haunting. And Yelena Belova has become my new MCU character. Knowing she's canonically Asexual in the comics made me happy. I choose to believe she's also ace in the MCU.

Can I also admit that I am totally like Wanda and Grace. I watch TV shows as a way to escape the sorrows of real life. I'm sure many of us do that. And even though it doesn't always work it still serves as a great momentary distraction.


"Life is just a lot of everyday adventures." ― Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn


Chapter 19: The Stark Expo

"I heard you broke the perimeter." Agent Coulson's voice filled the chaotic looking lab. It currently looked that way because Tony had knocked down the walls, along with drilling into his lab floor. He did all that in order for him to gain access to the power grid and make room for the Prismatic Accelerator.

The Prismatic Accelerator would hopefully create a new element for him to use. And if it worked it would be thanks to his father.

Tony glanced Coulson's way and he saw how unhappy he looked. Truth be told he wasn't all that thrilled to see him either, but he kept his casual playfulness when speaking to him.

"That was, like, three years ago. Where have you been?"

"I was doing some stuff." Coulson's response was quick as he walked closer to him. There was no further explanation, not that Tony was expecting the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to go into complete details.

Tony tried to make his reply as short as his. "Yeah, well, me, too, and it worked." He let out a sigh at Coulson's unamused expression. "Hey, I'm playing for the home team, Coulson, you and all your Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Now, are you going to let me work or break my balls?"

During his rant, Coulson had spotted an unfinished Captain America shield from one of the boxes Tony's father had left him.

"What's this doing here?" Coulson asked, voice even. Tony didn't know, and Coulson didn't want him to know, that on the inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was actually over the moon at finding, and holding a Captain America shield. Even with it being unfinished.

Tony's expression quickly became serious when he saw Coulson holding onto the shield. "That's it." He gestured. "Bring that to me."

Coulson looked at the shield and then at the Stark Man, eyes curious. "You know what this is?" He asked as he handed the shield to him.

Tony nodded his head, still keeping that seriousness on his face. "It's exactly what I need to make this work."

Coulson had no idea that he was being sardonic until Tony ordered him to help him lift the coil. As it turned out the reason why the Stark man needed to shield was to support the heavy weight of the coil.

Once the shield was under, Tony placed the spirit level on top and backed away. "There perfect." The serious look quickly vanished and he appeared bored when directing his attention to Coulson."I'm busy. What do you want?"

Coulson was beyond annoyed. Any other day he probably would have made that more clear but not today. He was on a schedule, and Tony Stark wouldn't distract him with his eccentric behavior, even if he was slowly becoming used to it.

"Nothing." Coulson answered him. "Goodbye. I've been reassigned.

Tony huffed. "Huh."

"Director Fury wants me in New Mexico." Coulson explained.

Tony had questions. He had a lot of them. Asking would be pointless though. The best he could do was just say his own goodbye to Agent Coulson. It wouldn't be a heartfelt one because he just knew this wouldn't be the last time he'd see the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

"Fantastic." Tony breezily commented. "Land of Enchantment."

"So I'm told." Coulson quipped.

"Secret stuff?" Tony asked in a nonchalant way.

Coulson kept his voice steady. "Something like that."

Tony sniffed. "Hmm."

"Good luck." Coulson stuck out his hand and Tony shook it.

"Bye."

"We need you." Coulson informed him before he let go.

Tony was lighthearted with his response. "Yeah, more than you know."

Coulson made a face, his lips smiling slightly. "Not that much."

Tony didn't say anything else as he watched the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent leave his lab. He was both offended and amused. It was enough to make him want to smile but then he remembered what he had been doing before Coulson arrived.

He looked at the Prismatic Accelerator and thought about Grace.

Tony still had work to do.


"Alright, what we're going to do is sneak this stuff back into the church, and no one will ever know this happened. Understood?"

"You know, the church just left us alone with all that stuff. I think it was entrapment."

"Reese, look, I don't want to hear any more excuses. I'm tired of you boys not taking respon―oh, damn!"

"It's God! He found us!"

"It's not God, Dewey. It's just my crappy car. Although in a larger sense I suppose he could have helped out my career a bit from time to time. Throw a promotion my way once in a while! So you're right. Maybe it is God!"

"Hey, I don't want to scare anyone, but this is the street mom takes home from work, and she gets off in ten minutes!"

Grace watched the TV show play out with a dejected expression, not even letting out a single laugh. That was highly unusual because she usually tended to laugh a lot whenever she watched Malcolm in the Middle. The show was one of her favorite TV sitcoms. But today she just wasn't in a very cheerful mood. And not even the way Bryan Cranston's character Hal was panicking could make her smile.

The Stark girl was lying in bed. After arriving in New York Pepper had checked them into a hotel. Natalie was with them but was staying in a different room than them. The moment they entered the lavish suite, Grace had gone into the bedroom and chose to escape the sorrow she was feeling through television.

However that didn't necessarily work as Grace thought it would. She was still feeling sad, and no amount of comedy was going to change that. She kept the TV on though because she didn't want to be surrounded by silence. That to Grace would have made things worse.

There was a gentle knock on the door before it opened. Grace already knew who it was.

"How are you feeling?" Pepper asked her, voice soft. She walked over to sit on the bed. The redhead was aware of Grace's downhearted demeanor. She barely talked to her during the plane ride. Grace didn't even read. That just confirmed to Pepper how bad things were. She desperately wanted to change that.

Grace didn't look at her as she answered. Her dull dark brown eyes were still on the TV, watching the character of Hal freak out. "Fine."

Pepper followed her gaze. "What are you watching?"

"Malcolm in the Middle." Grace's voice was a bit more lively.

"My favorite episode has to be the bowling one." Pepper decided to share with Grace after hearing her voice light up.

Grace glanced her way, eyes not as dull. "It is a classic."

Pepper got more serious with what she said next. "We're going to need to start getting ready in a couple of hours." She informed her. Even though the Stark Expo would remind Grace of her dad, and his current behavior, she still had hope that the general excitement would melt away some of that sadness.

"Oh…" Grace mumbled. She already knew that. "Okay." Whatever liveliness was there was going away now. She wasn't exactly excited to attend the Expo again. Unlike last time.

"Grace, I know things right now with your dad are….." Pepper hesitated, unable to easily finish that sentence.

"A mess?" Grace threw in with a frown.

Pepper stared at the seven year old. It saddened her to hear Grace say that but it definitely was a perfect way to describe the current situation. Everything with Tony was a mess, and despite him trying to explain things to her, Pepper was still so confused as to why he had behaved that way.

The redhead nodded her head. "Yeah, that's exactly how things are right now. But…" She cleared her throat, trying to sound optimistic. "It won't be like this forever." She certainly hoped not. Her light green eyes stared into Grace's dark brown eyes. They were exactly like Tony's. Even the way she frowned was like Tony.

"How about I help you choose a dress?" Pepper asked kindly.

Grace let out a sigh, eyes looking at the TV for a few more seconds. No matter how much she wanted to stay in bed and continue watching Malcolm in the Middle, Grace knew would have to get ready eventually.

The Stark girl reached for the remote to turn the TV off. She then got up from the bed and followed Pepper to choose a dress for her to wear for the Stark Expo.


A couple of hours later, Happy was dropping off Pepper, Natalie, and Grace in front of the main entrance of the Stark Expo. Pepper and Natalie were professionally dressed and had on black dresses. The dress Pepper chose for Grace was more colorful. It was a periwinkle A-line dress, with long sleeves and knee length. The shoes matched the dress, and they were also chosen by Pepper.

Natalie, once meeting them in their hotel suite, had done her hair again. This time the dark redhead styled her hair in a Dutch crown braid. It matched the one the older woman had done for herself. Grace liked that they were matching somehow. Despite how sad she was, Grace managed to give her a smile and thanked her once she was done.

Aside from that, Grace remained solemn throughout the drive to the Stark Expo. Her face remained glum even as Pepper, Natalie, and her walked up the stairs to head to where the presentations were at.

When the three of them sat down, Grace took her time to look around. She saw that there were a ton of other people sitting, and waiting for the next presenter.

Finally her sadness faltered and was replaced with annoyance when the announcer said that Justin Hammer would be next. Grace couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. She didn't care how rude it would look. Pepper who sat on her right saw this but didn't comment on it. She felt the same way as her.

Not so long after the announcement music was played as Justin Hammer made his way onto the stage. The people in the audience applauded for him. Except for three people.

Grace made a face that basically expressed she wasn't impressed at all. Pepper frowned, and from the other side of her she noticed Natalie's impassive look aimed at Hammer.

Even though it hurt to think about her dad, Grace still compared Justin Hammer's entrance to her dad's.

Her dad's entrance had been way cooler.

Grace scoffed. She watched as Hammer did a spin. What a total tool. "Did he have to dance that way?"

"No sweetie. He just chose to." Pepper told her over the music that was still playing. She glanced at Grace, smiling a little. She was glad that at least Grace wasn't silently sulking. For the moment anyway.

"Because he's an idiot." Grace summarized what she already knew.

Pepper had to stifle her giggle. "Yes."

Neither of them noticed the dark redhead's lips quirking because of what Grace said.

The audience finally settled, and the three of them narrowed their eyes at Hammer when he stepped up to the podium. By now the music had stopped.

"That's what I'm talking about! Thanks for coming." Justin exclaimed to the audience with a grin. "Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way, but then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us." He paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach."

Grace heard Pepper release a scoff after Hammer said this.

"That's not fair. That's not right." Hammer told the audience. "And it's just too bad."

Grace looked at Pepper when she heard her mutter something. The seven year old saw that Natalie was looking at Pepper too. Clearly the more Hammer spoke the more upset it made Pepper. That was understandable to Grace.

"Regardless, it was an impressive innovation, once that grabbed headlines the world over. Well, today, my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink." Hammer stopped talking long enough for there to be scattered applause.

Grace huffed from where she was seated. She watched as two people went on stage to remove the podium.

Once it was gone, Hammer cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United States military." He turned around to face the stage and pointed to empty space. "The Hammer drone."

Grace was bewildered. Had he meant to gesture to the screen? It was playing a video. Her confusion went away when drones from below the stage started to appear. She sat up in her seat, watching a bit alarmed now. She sensed Pepper tensing up as well.

"Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines!" Hammer shouted. "Yeah! Yeah! Woo! That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders."

Grace glared at him for saying that. She had actually liked the cheerleaders. They were great with the choreography...not to mention pretty.

"Let me tell you. But as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war!" Hammer told the thundering audience. It appeared to Grace that everyone was eating this up aside from Pepper, Natalie, and herself.

As the audience continued applauding, Grace got a better look at all the drones on stage. They all looked the same and they were unnerving to stare at. None of her dad's suits ever made her feel this way. Not even when she had seen her dad fight her Uncle Rhodey while they had suits on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present to you the very first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!" Hammer exclaimed.

Even with how loud the crowd got, Grace was able to hear the shocked response from Pepper. Grace was just as shocked. Her Uncle Rhodey was here? And he was in Hammer's presentation? She knew he must have been mad at her dad because of the fight they had…..but was he this mad? The Stark girl felt a twist in her stomach as a suit rose from under the stage. Her Uncle Rhodey was inside there. She watched him give a salute.

The drones that were behind him copied his action. Hammer started speaking again.

"For America and its allies, Hammer Industries is reporting for…" He got caught off when the sound of rumbling filled the pavilion. Everyone turned towards where the sound was coming from.

They saw just who it was.

Iron Man.

Grace wanted to cry and smile. It was her dad. He was flying their way. She kept her mixed emotions to herself and silently watched as her dad landed smoothly on stage with the Iron Man suit.

Pepper was feeling the same way as Grace, and it was noticeable through her light green eyes. Natalie was quiet, but her eyes were hard.

The audience members liked seeing Iron Man, and their cheering didn't stop. Grace saw Hammer try to make the audience focus on him again but he was failing. Her interest spiked when her dad walked over to him. It was obvious to her they were talking, but she didn't know about what.

Hammer's smile was tight, so something her dad had said got to him.

Grace's dark brown eyes shifted to her Uncle Rhodey when he made a move to grab the machine gun the suit had. She let out a gasp when he pointed at her dad. He wasn't actually going to shoot her dad was he?

Something very wrong was going on. Grace had felt that way the moment those weird looking drones appeared. The feeling was only confirmed when the drones that were behind Rhodey raised their own weapons.

Pepper jumped up from her seat. She took a hold of Grace's arm and brought her up as well. When the redhead looked at Natalie she saw that the dark redhead was already prepared to leave as well.

Everything was happening so fast. People around them were panicking. There was shouting and it only got worse when the drones' weapons were being used.

The only thing that made Grace feel better was that her dad had flown up, avoiding getting shot by the drones. She had no idea what was happening with her Uncle Rhodey though. Was something up with the suit he had?

Grace tried to stay calm as she remained sandwiched between Pepper and Natalie. The three of them were navigating through the screaming crowd. Natalie was at the front, and Pepper was at the back. Grace, in the middle, held onto each of their hands. She had no idea where Natalie was leading them but she trusted the dark redhead to get them to safety.

After all, she had been the one to have found Grace when she ran off during the fight at her dad's birthday party.

Pepper noticed first that Natalie was leading them backstage. She was about to question her but stopped once she saw Justin Hammer nagging at the technicians that were seated at the computers.

Grace caught onto what one of the technicians was saying to Hammer.

"He's locked us out of the mainframe."

The Stark girl stopped in front of the computers. She stayed by Pepper's side. Natalie was a bit further back, and Grace could describe her stare towards Hammer to be that of a hawk.

"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" Pepper heatedly asked.

Hammer began to wave her off. "Please, please, go away. I've got this handled."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Well, you're doing a lousy job."

Hammer frowned as he pointed a finger at her. "Listen, kid. I don't need you to―"

"You haven't handled anything." Pepper sternly interrupted. She gently pushed Grace behind her and then glared at Hammer. "And don't you dare point your finger at her!" She shouted at him.

Hammer shook his head. "Easy, lady. I don't even know you." He only stopped pointing because he didn't want to deal with any mama bear nonsense right now. He continued to show attitude by narrowing his eyes. "And, yes, I do have things handled. In fact, if your guy hadn't shown up, this wouldn't be happening. So, please, now go away." He waved goodbye at them in a condescending way.

Pepper gasped when Natalie suddenly grabbed Justin Hammer and held him down on the computer desk. The dark redhead was able to keep him down so easily because she had one of his arms behind his back. It looked very painful and Justin's wails soon reached their ears.

"Wow!" Grace exclaimed. She watched what happened with an awed expression.

The dark redhead leaned over to hiss in his ear. "You tell me who's behind this." When there was a pause with no answer from Hammer, she tightened the hold on his arm. "Who's behind this?!"

This time Hammer did answer. "Ivan-Ivan Vanko!" He cried out.

"Where is he?"

Hammer answered her quickly, afraid that she'd actually break his arm. "At my facility!" He grunted when she let go of him and he didn't even stop himself from falling onto the floor.

"Ms. Potts, Miss Stark." The dark red haired woman began to formally speak. "I'm not who I claim to be." She locked eyes with both of them. There was an ardent look in her green eyes that had Pepper and Grace listening attentively. "My name isn't Natalie Rushman. It's Natasha Romanoff, and I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."