Thursday

February 11, 2016

Midtown School of Science and Technology

9:00 AM

Denying the truth doesn't change the facts, but that doesn't mean she can't feign ignorance. She knows she'll have to face reality eventually but she's hoping to prolong that internal struggle for much, much later. Perhaps when she's twenty-one and totally shit-faced. Morgan will be in some crappy bar mumbling about how her father's some unbelievably wealthy celebrity that wanted nothing to do with her.

She'd be puking into a toilet all teary-eyed and full of self-loathing.

Until then she would continue to repress the truth.

Anytime news about Stark Industries or statements from Tony Stark on TV she promptly shut it off. She avoided looking at the posters of him scattered around town. She pretended not to hear her classmates squealing over him and fanboy-ing over Iron Man. She blanked it all out like it was white noise.

"You doing better today?" Peter asks, stepping up beside her. "Yesterday you seemed kind of... off."

Morgan flicked her gaze over. "I guess I was. I just realized how big a deal being sixteen is."

While Peter didn't say anything to that, Morgan could feel the lingering stare. He wasn't completely convinced of that, she could tell. What was she supposed to say though? That she got some weird phone call the other day and the man on the phone told her that her father was— no!

Not thinking about that...

Morgan pushed the thought aside.

"There you are," Ned said, joining them. "You feeling better today?" Ned's attention turns to her.

Morgan can't help the flicker of annoyance that rushes through her. Did everyone notice how off she was yesterday? All she wants to do is forget yesterday even happened. Was the so difficulty for everyone to understand?

"I'm great..." she says with a forced smile.

Before he can reply, the bell rings.

"Gotta go, see you guys later." She waves to them as she flees.

...

"You know Morgan, you can't run from your problems. They'll always follow you unless you face them head on," Pepper told her six year old daughter, tapping her gently on the nose. "So how about you tell me what's wrong?"

Morgan recalled that moment. She was so upset, she'd done something bad. Now she couldn't recall what it was that she'd done but she remembered being so worried about telling her mother. And that's when she had said those words to her. Trying to coax the truth from her lips.

She hated moments like these. Where nothing she did could divert her mind's attention so something other than the looming problem overhead.

All she wants to do is not think about it and yet all she can do is thing about it.

Why couldn't her dad have been some no name? Some random guy who her mom slept with and didn't know the name of? She wincing. That was rather harsh. Would she really prefer her mother to have no clue who her dad was? That didn't seem like a much better option.

Then she'd be upset at her mom for not knowing.

The real question is how did that man on the phone know? Her mom said that she never told anyone what happened. So how would he know? It seemed like he wanted something from her. She didn't know what but that was the feeling she got.

Even if she is the daughter of... him, that doesn't explain why anyone would want to deal with her. Sure she was the daughter of someone really smart and famous, but she hadn't accomplished anything spectacular. She just turned fifteen and is still in high school. Not the sort to graduate top of her class from college at fifteen like Tony Stark had.

She still wasn't sure her mother was right. She was nowhere near as smart as him.

Damnit. She shakes her head.

No. Thinking. About. That!

This was gonna be a loooong day...

...

Peter Parker's Apartment

Queens, New York

4:00 PM

Morgan is laying sprawled out on Peter's bed, her homework for the day already finished and being shoved back into the depths of her backpack.

"How's the Spiderman-ing going?" Ned asked, glancing briefly at the closed door.

"Good. I saved an elderly woman from a mugging. Then there was another bank robbery and I helped a girl find her lost dog."

As Morgan watched him she couldn't help but wonder what they would think about this. It wasn't like Peter didn't have his own huge secret. One he never would've told them about if she hadn't figured it out. Suddenly a wave of crushing guilt overwhelms her.

She was so upset that Peter hadn't confided his secret to her and Ned. She wanted compete transparency in her friendship and yet her she was doing the same damn thing Peter had done. Maybe it wasn't the same as she wasn't being a secret vigilante but she was knowingly withholding information.

Morgan still didn't want to think about it but she didn't want to be a hypocrite.

Her mouth felt like sand and her tongue was lead. If she could just... if she could only push the words out through her teeth. Then everything would be—

"Tony Stark's my father!" she blurts unceremoniously.

Peter and Ned stop in the middle of their video game to look at her stunned.

"Uh, what?" Peter asks while Ned still seems to be processing what she said.

Morgan pulls herself into a sitting position, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I received a phone call a couple days ago. There was a man on the phone and he told me that my mom had... well that she and Tony Stark had..." Morgan blushed furiously. "Well, he said that Tony Stark was my father. And then I spoke to my mom after you left yesterday and she... well she confirmed it..."

There was a minute of complete silence.

"Holy shit!" Ned squeals. "This is literally awesome! My best friend is Spiderman and my other best friend is the daughter of Iron Man. This is so cool!"

Peter says nothing, seeming trying to figure out what to say.

"So are you moving in with him? Does he even know about you? What about your name, are you changing it? I think Morgan Stark has a rather nice ring to it. What does that make your net worth? What about a car, you're turning sixteen next year after all?"

"Ned," Peter said shortly, clearly recognizing how uncomfortable Morgan was.

"Sorry, sorry. I just get excited about this stuff. So it's true then? Tony Stark is really your father then?"

Morgan nods once. "Yeah. Apparently she spoke to Obadiah Stane about her pregnancy when she found out. See she had worked as his personal assistant when they... got together. She quit right after and then found out about me. Apparently they did a DNA test when I was born. She said that Mr. Stark didn't want to be a parent and they set up some huge college fund for me."

"Oh man..." Peter said looking at his friend sympathetically.

"Dude that sucks."

Morgan snorts bitterly. "Yeah so no future birthday car for me."

...

Pepper Potts' Apartment

5:27 PM

Morgan was just about to clean up and take a shower when she heard a knock on the front door. That was odd. No one was supposed to be here. She hadn't invited Ned or Peter over and her mom wouldn't be home for another thirty minutes.

Moving out from her bedroom she makes a line for the front door. She normally wouldn't open the door but something compelled her to open it anyways. This was a really bad idea. Wasn't this the stupid shit that gets girls killed in all those horror movies? Answering the door to some unknown door knocker.

Morgan unlocks the deadbolt and yanks the door wide. Ready to tell off any creep that may be lurking at the front of her house, but when Morgan sees the face of the man at the door she feels her heart drop into her stomach.

She had to be dreaming right? This wasn't real. She was hallucinating.

"I'll take a shot in the dark and say you're Morgan, right?"

A/N:

There we go, This was shorter than I wanted it. It was supposed to be more of a retrospective of Morgan trying to avoid the topic but it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it. Next chapter is what we've all been waiting for and hopefully it'll be a lot easier to write than this one.