Avengers Towers
February 12, 2016
4:00PM
Her heart pounds rapidly against her ribcage when the elevator door opens to reveal an enormous penthouse. Happy doesn't spare the room a second glace as he moves forwards. Morgan stumbles after him, trying to keep up with the steady pace while simultaneously darting her gaze wildly around the room in an attempt to see everything. Luckily Tony Stark was no where in sight so as to not see her gaping at everything like some star-struck fangirl.
The room is spacious with an open floor plan. One wall is made up of large floor to ceiling windows which overlook the city skylines. From this high up she can see all the buildings in the distance like a beautiful painting. She can barely make out small moving black spots which must be people. Morgan could even imagine how incredible the city would look at night with all the windows in the fellow skyscrapers alight.
On the opposite side to the windows was a bar. There were art pieces, like, actual canvas art prints with official signatures. Not that she could guess their worth, she was no art buff. Though she could infer that, based on the owner, they probably cost more than anything Morgan had to her name. In fact, she was certain it cost more than anything they had in their apartment.
Being here brought up the most obvious divide between them.
While she never felt like they were poor, Morgan knew they were far from well off. They had an apartment, if a bit shabby of one. They never went without basic necessities like food, electric or water. She's never found an eviction notice in the mail. Pepper and Morgan were fine.
Now here she was in this fancy penthouse in the middle of New York City. A place that everyone and their mother would fawn over in they're daydreams. This fancy modern art. Her eyes flick to the semi-circle couch of white leather. The expensive furniture.
It was... humiliating.
All she wanted then was for the ground to open up and swallow here whole. For her to never been seen again because anything was better than this feeling. She wanted the tight coiling in her stomach to cease.
Morgan felt like they were nothing but backwater bumpkins who spent their whole lives living in a dumpster, and if just seeing her father's lavish lifestyle made her feel this way she didn't even want to imagine what Tony Stark the billionaire thought.
Pepper and Morgan had a two bedroom apartment with only one bathroom that they shared. The walls were so thin she could hear anything her neighbors said during arguments. They were more akin to vermin skittering about than anything near equals to someone like Stark.
Which brought her back to where she was at before. What game is he playing? What's the endgame?
"You can take a seat wherever you'd like," Happy said, motioning between the stools at the bar or the couch. "But don't expect a drink from the bar," he added when Morgan pulled back the bar stool and sat down. "Tony should be up from the lab any minute. I've got to run, but if you need anything you can ask FRIDAY."
"FRIDAY?" Morgan asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Hello Morgan, I am FRIDAY. I am an atrificial intelligence system created by Tony Stark. I am integrated into all systems within the tower along with any and all of Boss's personal devices."
Morgan's head jerks up toward the ceiling.
"Oh, that makes sense." And it did, of course Tony Stark would have his own personal AI to run his tower. Not to mention she has it on good authority to assume he has the AI placed into his Iron Man armor. It'd be dead useful to have for locking onto targets and various intel. Access to all data across the internet.
It took only a few minutes after Happy had left before Morgan began to fidget. While she wasn't overly hyperactive she was terrible as sitting still when anxious. Her fingertips grazing against the rough jean fabric while she chews on her bottom lips, eyes still briefly glancing around the room.
As she sat there in that enormous room she couldn't help but feel like an ant crawling around on a giants back. Like she was tiny, defenseless and easily exterminated.
Morgan rises from her stool and moves so that she standing with her back to the large sectional and facing the large television.
"FRIDAY could you turn the TV on. Is there anything in the news about Spiderman?" Morgan refused to sit down for fear of damaging the expensive furniture. The stool was one thing as it was solid wood but the couch was leather.
"Certainly, there is currently a news report about Spiderman preventing a mugging of a woman who was with her young daughter." The TV comes to life as the newscaster shows phone recordings of Peter yanking the gun free from the masked mugger's grasp and promptly webbing him to the nearest wall. The civilians on the street cheering for him.
"The friendly neighborhood Spiderling is already headlining, not surprising." A male voice cuts through the room making Morgan nearly jump out of her skin. She glances over to see Tony Stark stepping away from the bar where she was at earlier. How foolish was she to let her guard down like that? She didn't even hear him come in.
"It's Spiderman." She corrects him automatically.
Another mistake, she shouldn't be defending Spiderman so openly. If she comes off to knowledgeable about him that'll make her suspicious. Morgan would not be the one to blow Peter's cover by being too obvious in front of an Avenger.
"Not in that onesie he's not," Tony said, not seeming to notice how quick her response was. "FRI turn that off. Let's head down to the lab kid. Would've been here sooner but those damn board meetings are killers." Tony stops. "Don't tell your mother I swore in front of you, I have a feeling she wouldn't approve of that. She'll never let me see you again if she thinks I'm a bad influence."
"Aren't you?" Morgan asked.
"Used to be, I'm trying to be better." He shrugs.
...
Avengers Tower
Tony Stark's Personal Lab
4:32 PM
Tony Stark's personal lab was a large space, even bigger than the main living area of the penthouse. Everything was a metallic chrome which gleams under the overhead lights. It's so futuristic. It's the sort of place Morgan expected to see on the Star Ship Enterprise. A Star Trek reference, seriously? I'm turning into Peter and Ned...
Situated along the back wall was at least thirty, probably far more, variations of the Iron Man armor. She assumed they were the various marks that Tony designed. Scattered along the long steel tables were quite a number on in-progress inventions that Morgan couldn't wait to get a closer look at.
She was sure that anything in this lab would be an absolute marvel of technological enhancement and creative engineering. The sort of stuff that Morgan could only dream up in her wildest imaginations but would be completely incapable of bringing it into reality. Knowing that she was going to be here today with Tony Stark, Morgan went on a thorough dive through the internet to learn as much as she could about the man in question.
She knew that he graduated Summa Cum Laude from MIT at only seventeen. That he designed his first circuit boar at four. When he was eight he built a V8 motorbike engine. She also found long hidden records, thank you Ned for you brilliant hacking skills, was the he'd hacked the Pentagon on a dare during high school. At sixteen he won the 4th Annual MIT Robot Design Award.
And what exactly have you accomplished?
Nothing. She was sixteen and she was still attending high school, sure she went to Midtown School of Science and Technology but that was the pre-school to the college that was MIT. Morgan could graduate early, she simply chose not too. It was for the same reason Peter and Ned didn't. They wanted to stay together for as long as possible. Not to mention how difficult it would be to be sixteen and attending college with people older.
Are you so sure about that? Maybe you're just not smart enough. You like to pretend you're so smart but compared to your father you're practically a drooling toddler.
"What do you think kid?" Tony said, arms wide as he motions to the room. "Not many people get to see my personal lab. It quite the honor. So I was think we could work on this," Tony stopped in front of a table. There was a blueprint pulled up on the screen. Tony moves forward and basically pulls the image up into a holographic image and Morgan nearly gasps at the intricate design. It was a suit design, but not just any suit. Not an Iron Man suit or Avengers gear. This was a suit designed specifically for Spiderman.
Peter was going to freak out.
Tony smirks at her stunned expression. "Amazing right? I know. Since that Spiderboy seems pretty determined to help out, I thought it might be time to do an outreach program. This spider vigilante may have the best intentions but he needs some serious upgrades. Plus we could always use the extra help in the future. So I figured a new suit would make a nice peace offering, this should get the guys attention."
Morgan felt her head thundering in her chest. "That doesn't explain why you want me to help with this. I don't think I'm qualified to be handling something like this."
"Nonsense." Tony sits down and motions for Morgan to sit beside him. She hesitates a moment before relenting. "I have complete faith in your abilities kids. I did some research on you when I found out that you went to Midtown."
Morgan stared blankly at him. "I don't think being the head of the robotics' club is the same as designing a professional suit for a superpowered vigilante."
"Too much doubt in yourself. That's the sort of stuff that messes with your head. I've looked at your grades and past projects and I'm sure this won't be too tricky for a couple genius' like us. Have some faith in my judgement kid. I wouldn't have asked for your assistance if I didn't think you could handle this."
While she still felt nervous and rather unsure about the whole ordeal, she knew Peter would want to know everything about the suit Tony Stark was designing for him and it'd help him out if she personally assisted with the creation. Plus she will have a chance to ensure Peter's identity is protected by seeing any and everything that Stark plans to add into the suit.
"Alright, so what exactly are you planning to add into this suit?"
Tony proceeds to elaborate on his ideas for Spiderman's suit. He's going to integrate and AI into the suit to help Peter with various tasks. From being able to determine the best route for him to take to arrive at a crime scene as quickly as possible to having a direct calling line to reach others. So he'd be able to make phone calls in the suit, something which Tony said he has in his Iron Man armor. He also has plans for different webbing types but is unable to fully add such features until he discovers the makeup of the webbing.
They work in relative silence, meaning that while they hardly speak, FRIDAY has AC/DC blaring over the speakers to fill the lab. If this was a normal building, she was sure everyone in a hundred mile radius would be able to hear the music. Morgan wasn't bothered though, she usually blared music into her ears so having it be aloud didn't make much of a difference to her.
Hours flew by one after another. The sun steadily creeping lower and lower as the clock crept past seven and into eight. It wasn't until FRIDAY pointed out how late it was did they break away from the suit.
"I just received a spoke with Miss Potts," the AI said catching Morgan's attention. "She has been asked to assist her employer for the weekend so she will not be home for a few days. She has asked whether or not you would mind if Morgan could stay here for the next two days, boss."
The world seems to screech to a halt. Did her mom seriously just ask Tony Stark to play babysitter to a sixteen year old woman? She was nearly an adult and there wasn't any reason why she couldn't stay home alone for a few days. It'd be different if she was five or something but she was on the cusp for being an adult. Only two more years and she'll legally be an adult and yet her mom's acting like she can't be left alone.
Tony waved lazily. "Of course she can." His brown eyes met hers. "I've got plenty or room, in fact, I was already setting a room up for you. Too bad it didn't get to be a surprise, oh well."
A room for her? He was already putting together a room for her when they've only just met? Morgan wondered if her mother knew about this, she was sure Tony gave her mother his phone number before he left their apartment that night. Is that why she asked Tony if Morgan could stay over?
Pepper was surely trying to force the two of them together to help them for some kind of bond. As a little girl she always wondered why she never had a father like all her classmates did. She was to young to understand the possibilities that plagued reality. Children were naïve and lacked the ability to grasp such heavy topics. She was the same way. Not understanding that perhaps her father never wanted her to exist. Plus she also had no name, no hint to the man's identity so she never had the information to dig into her family line.
Then she grew older and her mother was able to start revealing the truths that she'd kept secret for so long. Now all of those conversations was inaccurate. Her father had no idea that she was even born. He didn't reject her or choose to be a flake of a parent. The truth was kept hidden from him. Which brought up the question of why. Why would this Obadiah Stane keep her existence a secret.
Obadiah had tried to have Tony Stark killed. She knew that, but why keep her alive? If he wanted complete control over Stark Industries then it would make more sense to have Pepper and Morgan dealt with. They would only be a hinderance if anyone discovered who her father was.
"C'mon kid, how about I show you your room."
Morgan notices that he's gotten on his feet. "Yeah sure."
All that she knew for certain is that they had quite a lot of things that they needed to talk about. Maybe she could get some answers she's been waiting her whole life for.
A/N:
Nearly four weeks, new record. This part has been seriously kicking my ass. That's probably because none of these last two chapters were in my original plan so it's all being made on the spot. Not that it's an official plan, mostly a mental one. I also hadn't planned to have her stay the weekend, but shit happens. I figured I could stop this chapter here and have more Tony and Morgan interactions next chapter so I could ask you guys what conversations and topics you'd like to hear them discuss because I can't seem to come up with very many. Anyways, hopefully it won't take another month for the next chapter. Again, sorry for the long wait!