I finally worked up the courage to watch FFH for the second time, because I've honestly not been emotionally stable enough to handle Peter's grief about Tony's death, never mind handling my own grief about it. But, I did it, and I cried, sure, but it was also just so great to re-immerse myself in that world again, and it gave me a sudden burst of motivation to churn out this one-shot I had thought of months ago.
It's set after the Finding Friends one-shot and features quite a few familiar faces, some immature competitiveness, and a healthy dose of fluff at the end (hopefully not too much).
Finding Facebook
"I just think it's a horrible idea," Peter says earnestly, frowning at her from the passenger seat. His head is leaning back against the headrest, his hair crumpling at an odd angle from the contact, and his eyebrows are twisted upwards in an almost-pleading expression.
Mikaela's chin pulls in sharply, her mouth twisting downwards. "I think 'horrible' is a slight exaggeration, Pete, but okay," she mutters. She has her elbow resting in the open window of the driver's side door, her hand resting lazily on top of the steering wheel, and the other hand is lying on her thigh.
"Don't do that," Peter pleads, his voice gentle.
"Do what?"
"That! Assuming the worst, like you always do!" he exclaims, lifting his head up and twisting in the seat to face her more.
"I don't know what you mean," she says, aloof, lifting her chin and pouting her lips as she avoids his gaze.
Peter huffs out a laugh. "Yes, you do," he retorts. "You went on the defensive because you instantly assumed I was referring to anything but Ned when I said 'horrible'."
"It's a natural reaction, Peter, after the years of discrimination, harrassment, antagonisation-"
"Oh my god. You know there are only so many times you can use that card with me, right?" he interrupts, his body slumping in the seat.
"Mutants have been persecuted and targeted for-"
"You're not gonna guilt-trip me into dropping it."
"-simply being born different. None of them asked to be born like this, Peter-"
"I'm pretty sure I could recite this speech word-for-word, that's how many times you've used it on me."
"-and yet humans obsess over them to a murderous degree because of it, like it's their fault. They're just trying to live their lives, Peter-"
"And I'm just trying to have a conversation with you, sugarplum."
"-it's really not much to ask, and yet-" Mikaela's mouth snaps shut suddenly, her brow furrowing. After a moment of silence where the jeep is suddenly stuffed with a smug air, her mouth twists with disgust, her cheeks pushing upwards to narrow her eyes, and she stutters out, "Did you just call me sugarplum?"
Peter is grinning widely at her, looking so damn satisfied with himself. "You got stuck on that little speech you do," he shrugs. "I had to break you out."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd wonder if you cared at all about mutant suffering," she scowls petulantly.
"Good thing you know better, then," he chirps. "But I know Ned better, and I'm telling you it's a horrible idea, because he will absolutely not be cool."
Mikaela rolls her eyes. "It's not like he'd be able to do much damage."
"How many times have you warned me about looking at a mutant the wrong way because they might get nervous and spontaneously combust? How d'you expect Ned to go in there and not look at someone funny?" he demands, hands gesturing emphatically.
"He'd do everything he could to not screw it up so we wouldn't ban him from ever coming back."
"It's a horrible idea," Peter repeats, slightly incredulous but still amused.
Mikaela sighs through her nose and clenches her jaw. When she glances over at him, she bites down a smile and shrugs. "It'd be entertaining, though."
Peter's head leans back against the seat again and it lolls over to bring his gaze back to her face, a grin splitting his cheeks. "Yeah, spontaneous combustion is a really popular activity in schools these days."
Mikaela is huffing out a laugh when her phone starts to vibrate on the dashboard. Peter tilts his chin up to try and see the screen, but there's not much effort in it. "Is it Tony?" he asks.
Mikaela frowns. "It's a video call from Wade," she replies. "Better answer it, just in case."
Peter sighs but sits up straight to lean forward and grab her phone. His finger hesitates over the answer button and he lifts a reluctant wince into her view. "What exactly are we gonna be subjected to, here?"
Mikaela shakes her head. "You'd have better luck calling a game of Russian Roulette," she mutters. "Just rip the band-aid off."
Peter literally takes a breath to prepare himself before he accepts the call, holding the phone out horizontally so the camera catches them both in the frame. Mikaela tries not to laugh at the grimace on his face, one eye squeezed shut and the other narrowed enough to shut at a moment's notice.
"Hey, Cupcake!" Wade cheers down the phone.
Mikaela can hear gunfire and screams, and Peter's eyes go suddenly wide when he glances at her. "Hi, you alright?" she asks, sending a wary frown at the phone when she tries to catch a glimpse of him.
"Excuse me," Wade calls, his phone capturing the underside of his chin as he calls out to someone. "Sir? You dropped this!" and he grunts when he tosses something overhand into the distance. He looks down at the phone, his head tilting curiously, and then he twists it so that he's holding his horizontally as well and their videos match up better. "Oh, hey!" he cooes, lifting the phone up into his masked face as an explosion sounds in the background, the backdrop behind him illuminated in an orange glow for a second. "It's Cupcake and Sugarplum!"
"What- wait, what?" Peter splutters, baffled.
Mikaela slaps his arm with her free hand and sends him a dismissive shake of her head. "It's so much easier to ignore it. Trust me. What's going on, Wade?" she calls out, sending another frown at the screen when Wade mutters irritably and lowers the phone for a moment to shoot someone. "You need backup?"
"You want me to drive?" Peter asks her quietly.
"What? No," Wade replies to her, his tone confused, and Mikaela shakes her head in reply to Peter. "I was just calling because I need to kill this guy but I wanna hit him with a devastating one-liner before I pull the trigger or stab him or whatever, and I was trying to think of one and then I remembered- hey, fuckface, watch where you're shooting, you coulda hit me!" he bellows, his hand dropping down to his thigh where the phone captures an upside-down view of him lifting his gun and shooting a supposed-enemy down, the body crumpling instantly.
Peter winces painfully and looks away.
"Sorry about that," Wade sighs when he brings the phone back to his masked face. "As I was saying, I remembered that back in the good old days when you and I took that two-year sabatical to annihilate those racist fucks, I came up with the perfect one-liner and it literally killed a guy with words. Do you remember what it was? 'Cause I'm struggling, here."
Mikaela's face scrunches contemplatively. "I remember you went through a phase for a couple of months where you literally delivered a one-liner before every kill. I remember it wasted a shit-load of time."
"Wow, okay, I didn't call for a fucking performance review, Cupcake," Wade snaps. "You wanna go down that road? 'Cause I've got stories of my own, y'know." He pauses momentarily to engage in a brief scuffle with someone, ending in another gunshot.
"Do you really have to.. multitask right now?" Peter grimaces.
"Oh, please, as if either of you aren't aroused by this."
"I'm really not," Peter mutters.
"Shut up, Wade," Mikaela snaps, her face contorted. "We're on our way to a child's birthday party and you are seriously messing with the vibe."
"Oh my god, is it Starkette's birthday?" Wade gasps, head snapping down to look at his phone. "Aw, give her a big ol' hug and a bucket of bullets from me."
"Yeah, for sure," Mikaela intones. "Listen, I honestly heard so many of your one-liners, I don't think I could pick one out from memory. You're gonna have to just come up with a new one."
"Alright, fine," he sighs harshly. "It wouldn't be the same anyway; I hate cheap knock-offs. Alright, have fun at the party or whatever. Tell Stark I'll take the kid on her first black ops mission when I get back."
"Goodbye, Wade," Mikaela says fondly, but pointedly, and Peter takes the opportunity to end the call.
"He's a weird dude," he says.
"Don't sugarcoat it, Pete."
"Should we be concerned?" he asks, swivelling in his seat to frown at her.
Mikaela gives him a look. "He's not really gonna take Morgan out on-"
"No, no," Peter cuts in with a confused smile. "I mean it sounded like there were a lot of guys there, and explosions."
Mikaela glances at him, blinking. "Since when did you care about Wade?"
Peter shuffles awkwardly. "Well, you care, so.."
Mikaela's eyebrows twist upwards, her heart swelling. "Aw, that's sweet," she says quietly, touched. "Pointless, but sweet."
Peter chuckles a little self-consciously. "That's me," he jokes weakly.
Mikaela throws him an unimpressed look and reaches out with her free hand to take a hold of his, resting them on his thigh. His expression relaxes and he gives her a soft smile, his fingers interlacing with hers, and she smiles back at him fondly.
They drive for another twenty minutes, chatting back and forth about college and mutant schools and the Stark family, until they finally pull up outside the farmhouse. There are already a few cars parked outside, belonging to some of Pepper's family, Happy, Rhodey, and parents of Morgan's friends. Mikaela and Peter get out of the jeep and collect some bags and a big, wrapped box from the back.
When they start walking towards the house, Tony appears out of nowhere wearing an irritable expression, a maroon, chequered shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the bottom untucked, and a pair of jeans that look like they've been ripped through accidents rather than fashion.
"You look classy," Mikaela grins.
"Well, I didn't know you could look like you didn't get dressed in the dark," he retorts with a false smile, though he steadies her with a hand on the side of her head to plant a kiss on her temple. "Hey, kid," he adds, his smile softening when he addresses Peter and plants his hand on the younger's shoulder, steering him towards the porch.
"Hey, Mr Stark," Peter smiles warmly at him, his arms full of the massive box they've brought for Morgan. "Where's the birthday girl?"
Tony tuts obnoxiously. "Out entertaining those little cretins she calls friends."
Mikaela grins as she follows behind the two along the porch and into the house. There are a few people milling around in the living room, and the table in the kitchen is pushed against the wall with a range of birthday presents laid out across it. The walls are lined with bunting and the doorways have glittery tassels hanging almost half-way down - even the floor is covered in balloons that Mikaela eyes warily and Peter easily and blindly steps over as he carries their present to the table.
Mikaela moves past it into the kitchen, where Happy is stood with an apron tied around his suit, flipping pancakes with that ridiculously somber expression of his, and she deposits the bags she was carrying onto the counter next to him.
"Hey, trouble," he acknowledges grumpily. "You bring the pain in the ass with you?"
Mikaela smirks. "Yes, Happy, we're both here."
Happy glances around her to see Peter, the corner of his mouth pulling into his cheek regretfully, and then he suddenly freezes. His mouth pulls into a tight line, his eyebrows furrowing, and he narrows his eyes almost suspiciously. "Is that your present for Morgan?" he asks.
Mikaela eyes him warily. "Yeah, why?"
He lifts his chin, glancing between Peter, Mikaela, their present, and the table, and he shrugs. "No reason."
Mikaela's eyes narrow into slits when she turns to look at the table and watches Peter slide their big box next to another big box. "That yours?" she asks, gesturing her head towards it.
Happy lifts his chin even further. "That's none of your business."
"You got to know which present's ours," she retorts, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not that your answer didn't really tell me everything I need to know, anyway."
Happy brandishes his spatula at her. "You just keep your glitchy hands away from my box, alright?"
"Glitchy?" Mikaela repeats incredulously, her eyebrows shooting upwards.
"Children, behave," Tony admonishes as he steps between them to start unpacking the bags Mikaela brought. "I have a naughty step and I'm not afraid to use it."
"Hey, Mick, look, it's Bruce and Rhodey," Peter says with over-enthusiastic cheer, a hand on her elbow to pull her away from the kitchen.
She levels Happy with one last glare before allowing Peter to drag her into the living room, her hands falling from her chest to hang at her sides. Peter takes the opportunity to catch one of them in his and press a quick kiss into her knuckles.
"Maybe fight with Happy another time, when it isn't Morgan's birthday," he says quietly, teasingly, tilting his head at her with a fond smile.
"He started it!" she hisses.
"Hey, kid, how you doing?" Rhodey's voice distracts her attention.
Mikaela returns his warm smile and moves in for a hug. "Hi, Rhodes. You look good."
"Two weeks' vacation," he grins, slapping Peter's shoulder in greeting. "One of which was a vacation from Tony, too. Never felt peace like it."
"I heard that!" Tony calls from the kitchen.
"I think Tony could do with a vacation from Tony," Bruce pipes up from where he's slightly hunkered in the corner, his massive frame making the room around him look miniature in comparison. "He's been running around all day huffing and puffing like the endless tasks he's doing were put on him by anyone other than himself."
Mikaela scoffs, and Rhodey gives Bruce a look. "You're one to talk, after all that huffing and puffing earlier."
"Would this have anything to do with the fact that you've managed to get inside the house?" Mikaela asks curiously, tilting her head.
Bruce mouths silently for a moment, his expression lightly indignant. "I don't know how you people are brave enough to mock me when I could literally squish your heads between my fingers."
Peter leans forward a little, his side pressing against Mikaela's. "Are you stuck inside, now?" he asks quietly.
At the look on Bruce's face, Rhodey laughs loudly, leaning a hand on Peter's shoulder.
"You need to get Tony to fashion you a Hulk-sized doggy door," Mikaela grins.
"It'd take up half the wall!" Rhodey chuckles.
"Hey, idiots, go wish my daughter happy birthday before I kick you outta the party for irritating my Bruce," Tony snaps good-naturedly, slapping hands on Mikaela and Peter's shoulders to drag them away from the living room again.
They let him move them, still grinning amusedly at each other - although Mikaela's face darkens suspiciously again when Happy catches her eyes with an equally-heated glare - before they head outside and follow the sounds of childish laughter and screeching towards the party.
"Hey, guys!"
Peter grins and walks over to his aunt, stepping comfortably into her embrace when she wraps her arms around him. Pepper is at her side with a camera in her hand, snapping a quick picture of the pair before she turns to Mikaela.
"Hi, sweetie," she smiles warmly, reaching out to hug her.
"Hey," Mikaela says into the woman's shoulder when she hugs her back. "Everything looks amazing," she adds when she pulls away and finds herself being brought into a hug by May too.
Peter and Pepper hug as well, and then the four of them turn to look at the yard. The animals are all milling around, happily letting the kids pet them and feed them, and there are toys scattered all across the grass. The pier is covered in bunting and balloons the full way down, the shoreline spotted by water gun and water balloon stations, and there's a modest marquee set up with long, pretty tables and a bunch of chairs.
May's face scrunches modestly. "I'm just glad I could help after the decorator called in sick."
"You're a miracle-worker," Pepper insists, smiling at the other woman.
"Where's baby Stark?" Mikaela asks, her head twisting back and forth.
Pepper quirks an eyebrow. "Oh, she's out there, somewhere," she says quietly, eyes narrowing. "Wreaking havoc, no doubt."
"Good mood?" Peter smiles amusedly.
"Happy's on his third batch of pancakes," Pepper responds pointedly, her tone dry.
"Kay!" a shrill voice screeches from across the yard.
"Oh, wow," Mikaela mutters through her teeth, her cheeks stretching in a grin that hides the apprehension that clutches at her.
Morgan is literally barrelling up from the shoreline towards them, a water gun slipping from her hands to clatter onto the soil in her sudden disinterest.
"Peter!" she cries out, her eyes blown wide with sheer excitement.
"I didn't know a human's face could be so red," Peter comments, unnerved, through a bright smile.
"Just wait until she gets onto the next batch of pancakes," Pepper replies quietly, already lifting the camera in her hands in preparation for Morgan launching herself into Peter's open arms.
He swoops the girl up into the air and spins her around, his expression genuinely happy when he wishes her a happy birthday. Mikaela beams and crouches down when Morgan pulls away from Peter to turn to her, and she gives the girl a tight hug and a smooch on her cheek, making Morgan giggle.
"Happy birthday, Mo," Mikaela grins, still crouched in front of her. "I almost didn't recognise you with all that nine-years-old you've got goin' on!"
Morgan giggles again. "I look the same!" she insists. "You look different, though - you're not wearing a jumper! I didn't know you could dress pretty."
Mikaela's face scrunches in amused confusion. "You truly are your dad's kid," she chuckles. "But thanks, I think. I made the effort for you."
Morgan's head whips round when a friend calls out for her, and she takes off running without so much as a "bye". Mikaela stands up to her full height again, crossing her arms over her chest as she watches the kids run off.
"Aw," Peter pouts a little teasingly, wrapping a lazy arm around her waist and pulling her side into his chest. "I think you always look pretty."
Mikaela sees Pepper lift the camera in her peripheral vision and her head whips round to stare at her as she takes the picture. Peter glances between them with a soft frown, his thumb stroking along Mikaela's ribs comfortingly despite his confusion.
Pepper's smile falters when she looks at the screen. "Mikaela," she admonishes fondly, lifting her gaze to give her a look.
"What?" Peter asks.
Pepper just scoffs good-naturedly and turns the camera around to show them the picture she just took. Peter is stood there, alone, smiling down at empty space, his arm wrapped around nothing.
"Dude," he protests quietly, his tone pouty.
May snorts. "Please send me that."
Mikaela winces. "Sorry, force of habit."
"Alright, well, cut it out," Pepper demands, lifting the camera again.
Peter's grip on her waist tightens as he leans into her more, angling his body towards Pepper and the camera, and Mikaela finds herself utterly lost. When Pepper looks down at the screen with an expectant smile which falls from her face with a roll of her eyes, Mikaela winces again.
"You look like you're here against your will, sweetie," the woman complains, amusement leaking through the disappointment.
Peter's breath whispers across the side of her face when he huffs out a laugh.
"Hey, kid, come help me with this, would you?" Tony's voice calls out.
Mikaela doesn't turn to look at him, and Peter plants a quick kiss to the side of her head before he hurries off to his mentor. Over the years, they have grown to learn the difference between Peter's "kid" nickname, and Mikaela's. Besides, she's too focused on May's gleeful laughter when Pepper shows her the latest attempt at a picture.
"Oh, wow, Mikaela," May says slowly, grinning wide. "Have you never had your picture taken before?"
Mikaela scowls defensively. "I only survived as long as I did because I erased all traces of my existence. Willingly allowing myself to be caught on camera isn't really something I've ever entertained."
"Well, you better get used to it. Peter's a huge fan of documenting memories," May warns playfully, unaware of the sudden uneasiness that settles in Mikaela's chest. "Oh, god, Happy's gonna fall out of the window if he tries any harder to get my attention. I'll be right back."
Pepper lowers the camera and gives Mikaela a gentle smile, reaching out to lay an arm across her shoulders. Mikaela's body relaxes under the woman's care, her heart thrumming happily at the thought of Pepper being able to read her. The silence between them is comfortable and companionable as they watch the kids running around, until Mikaela eyes the decorations a little more closely.
"Morgan's still in her dinosaur phase, right? That hasn't changed since last week?" she asks warily.
"Oh, yeah, of course," Pepper nods. "She's still crazy about them. She just said that she wanted pink and glitter for her party."
"Is she embarrassed or something?"
"What kind of parents do you take us for?" Pepper smirks, an expression she's most likely adopted from Tony. "As if we'd ever let her be embarrassed about who she is."
Mikaela looks over her shoulder at their house pointedly. "I think you're gonna need a bigger farm for all that ego you Starks flaunt around."
"It's called self-confidence," Pepper retorts playfully. "Something you either have too much of, or too little of, depending on the context."
Mikaela gapes at her, her mouth twitching with shocked amusement. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Trapping yourself alone with Thanos to try and kill him? Too much," Pepper answers pointedly. "Assuming you're gonna mess things up because you looked uncomfortable in a picture? Too little."
Mikaela flounders a little, and Pepper takes pity on her - though she's grinning amusedly.
"You really don't have to worry about anything, Mikaela. I mean, I saw you guys arrive - your gift for Morgan is from both of you, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"So you guys are in way too deep for Peter to walk away just because you're camera-shy."
Pepper's ease is infectious when she's tucked under the woman's arm like she is, so Mikaela lets the words soothe her, and she's able to concentrate on the party for the rest of the day. She doesn't see much of Morgan, but she gets to catch up with Rhodey and Bruce some more - after the latter managed to squeeze himself back out of the house without an audience - and she feels contentment warming her soul with all the laughter and smiles and banter.
Eventually, when the sunset begins to cast a golden glow across the farm and the majority of Morgan's friends head home with party bags full of toys and cake, Tony and Pepper gather all the party-goers in the marquee. They pile all of Morgan's presents on a table thin enough to fit through the door of the house and Bruce carries it down the yard to where the birthday girl waits excitedly.
She tears through the presents in record time, all genuine pleasure and gushing gratitude, and Peter shifts nervously when she moves to their big box. Mikaela nudges her shoulder against his, catching his eye to give him a confident smirk, and he smiles anxiously back at her. When he redirects his attention to Morgan, Mikaela looks across the group of adults to see Happy watching them both suspiciously, hands fidgeting at his sides - he might accuse her of a taunting grin, but he has no proof.
Morgan gasps loudly as Tony helps her unwind the bubble wrap from around her gift, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head in amazement, her jaw hanging open. Mikaela can't stop the wide grin that stretches her cheeks, pride bursting in her chest at the impressed murmurs passed around the audience when they catch sight of Morgan's gift. Peter's hands rub nervously at each other in front of his stomach, and Mikaela leans into his side, planting a gentle hand on his shoulder, resting her cheek on her knuckles.
Their gift is a tyrannosaurus rex, about half a metre high, hand-made from some lightweight but ductile plastic that Peter got his hands on through his university, and the paint-job has obviously been done with some amount of care and patience - a level of which Mikaela had never before seen in herself, if she's being honest. It stands proudly, all scaly-greens and neat, moulded panels, and Morgan's face as she beholds it is nothing short of awed.
And, yet, Peter stutters a little nervously. "Hit the button on its foot."
Morgan glances at him with wide-blown eyes before she stoops to press the button. The T-rex's eyes light up a deep gold and the panels shift and rotate as the dinosaur flicks its tail, lifts its head, and opens its jaw to let out a quiet roar - Mikaela had wanted it to be louder, but Peter insisted it'd likely end up smashed by Tony if it made too much noise. Even without a deafening roar, though, Mikaela knows that their present is for sure in the runnings for the best one of the day. Peter had spent so much time constructing the robot, trying to make sure it'd look realistic - despite the massive scale inaccuracy, of course - and then they had both worked on the processes of the mechanical parts, and Mikaela had then sat for hours, days, painting each and every panel until none of the original grey plastic could be seen, and the dinosaur's body was as detailed as she could manage.
Peter glances at her, and she gives him a smug grin, throwing it across the scene to Happy as well. The head of security is frowning down at the gift, his chin lifted warily, but he doesn't look as defeated as Mikaela was hoping for.
"Hey, Mo," she calls out warmly, taking the girl's silent attention. "Maybe you should try walking around."
Morgan's tiny mind is apparently still blown, judging by the way she can only stumble away from the robot with her still-wide eyes and open mouth. Mikaela cocks her head and sends a quick command to the robot, linking it with the little girl, and the audience chuckles when the T-rex's head turns to look at Morgan and it starts walking after her.
Mikaela squeezes Peter's shoulder to send him a silent I told you so, and lifts her body away from his side to stand up straight again. His face is bright with relief and happiness as he watches Morgan wander around in a circle, eyes glued to the following robot, her mouth slowly stretching open in an elated grin.
"Mom, dad, I've got a dinosaur!" she squeals.
"Someone call the Smithsonian!" Tony cheers, smirking down at his daughter. Pepper's eyes are nearly as wide as Morgan's, her beaming smile full of gratitude when she looks up at Mikaela and Peter.
"I told you she'd love it," May says quietly on Peter's other side.
Morgan takes that moment to sprint over to them, hugging her arms around them both quickly before darting back to the robot. "Thank you so much, I love it!"
When those of her friends remaining at the party to sleepover later crowd round the dinosaur and start gushing over it, Happy manages to catch Morgan's attention. "Hey, open the other big one," he suggests, gently pushing her towards it.
Mikaela's excitement and pride falters slightly when Happy straightens and sends her the same taunting smile she'd sent him. She feels Peter glance at her confusedly, but her body is tensing with anticipation as Morgan begins to unwrap the other present.
She can feel Happy's stupid smugness radiating across the marquee towards her, but she can only stare, slackjawed, at the triceratops Morgan reveals with another excited shout.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she mutters.
Peter shifts next to her. "It's fine," he breathes. "It's not the same thing. We're fine."
No, Happy's dinosaur is all smooth and shiny and ridiculously well-crafted, the panels moulded so perfectly there's barely any gaps between them, and the paint is sinfully unblemished and artistic.
"A triceratops, too?" Morgan exclaims, utterly ecstatic, her head whipping round to look towards Happy and her parents. Pepper looks fondly exasperated, and Tony is straight-up rolling his eyes with a quiet groan.
But everyone's attention snaps to the new dinosaur when it suddenly lifts its head and lets out a soft growl, apparently activated by Morgan's voice alone.
"Can it move, too?" the girl asks innocently.
Happy catches Mikaela's glare and grins. Peter stiffens at her side, which only makes her more angry.
And then the triceratops starts to amble towards Morgan.
Mikaela snatches her hand away from Peter's sudden grip, crossing her arms over her chest as her face contorts disbelievingly. "I'm sorry, but what the hell is that?" she demands.
Happy levels her with a mocking look. "That is a robot dinosaur," he retorts.
Mikaela's teeth grind together, her body going rigid in her defensive fury. Peter tries to reassure her that it's okay, but he sounds like he genuinely believes it and that just makes it worse. He had put so much time and energy into making the designs for the robot and then sourcing the material, making prototypes, problem solving whatever issues came up, and all while he was busy with his own college work, and their dinosaur is fucking cool and she's so fucking proud of it, and there's Happy, staring at her with that stupid fucking smirk on his stupid fucking face.
"And we're supposed to believe that you made that?" she taunts, her tone cold.
"Mikaela, it's fine," Peter tries again. "Morgan's just got two-"
"Would that be so hard to believe?" Happy challenges. "I've spent years watching Tony mess around with technology. Maybe I've picked up a few things."
"You?" Mikaela asks flatly, giving him a look. "The same guy who has had to Google multiple times how to access emojis on his phone, and one time posted the search on his Facebook instead of in the search bar?"
Tony snorts, and Happy scowls. "We all have our Achilles Heel," the man snaps.
"Yeah, you're not fooling anyone, Hogan," Tony mutters, stepping up next to him. "Hey, FRIDAY, you in there?" he calls, bored.
It's silent for a moment.
"This doesn't have to be a big deal, Mick. Morgan looks pretty happy with two dinos, and that's all that-" Peter tries.
"He's a conman and I'm gonna kill him," Mikaela hisses back.
Happy's expression is just beginning to relax when a small voice emanates from the triceratops. "No, boss." But there's no mistaking the source of the voice, nor the accent.
"Really, Happy? You roped FRIDAY into this?" Tony sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Happy splutters for a moment. "What, and she's not in complete control of her dinobot?" he manages to snap, pointing childishly at Mikaela.
"I don't need to be," Mikaela retorts, jerking her head at Peter. "Because he's actually good with technology and managed to make it all by himself."
"This is the most intense kid's birthday party I've ever been to," Rhodey mutters.
His comment seems to break most of the tension, the audience starting to disperse and strike up conversations again now that all the presents have been opened. Morgan is running around gleefully with both dinosaurs following after her, the triceratops smooth and agile while the T-rex looks a little stunted and out of date, and her friends are gushing praises about how lucky she is to have received such cool gifts.
Mikaela scowls down at the triceratops, fighting against her impulses to link in to the robot and short-circuit it. Morgan's excitement and Peter's satisfaction are the only things stopping her from attacking.
"Remember when we said not to spoil her?" Pepper chastises when her and Tony walk over.
Mikaela can't even respond. She hates the triceratops. It's moving around like something out of a sci-fi film, all smooth and realistic, and Happy's acting like it's the best present in the world even though he didn't even make it.
"So, you guys made that thing by yourselves?" Tony asks, crossing his arms and cocking his head appraisingly as he steps next to Peter.
"Uh, yeah, kind of," Peter replies, a little abashed, tucking his own arms across his chest as if mimicking Tony will increase his chances of praise.
"Not 'kind of'," Mikaela corrects grumpily. "It was completely hand-made. Peter put a lot of work into it. A lot."
"Alright, kid, I get it," Tony rolls his eyes. "Parker gets full credit for creating a robot dinosaur from scratch without any help."
"Well, Mikaela helped," Peter chuckles modestly, swinging his head round to look at her with bright eyes.
"He would've managed it without me, though," Mikaela clarifies, sending a quick scowl at Happy in case the man's listening in. "I was only needed for one part."
"Alright," Tony groans. "You both made an awesome present from scratch and your need to big each other up is disgusting. Happy?"
Peter is beaming. His arms uncross, his chest puffing up happily, and his hand comes to rest on the small of Mikaela's back when he steps closer to her and presses into her side. "It is awesome," he repeats. "I know it looks a little clunky compared to-"
"It's not clunky," Mikaela interrupts, scowling at him. "You know what it is?" Peter blinks at her, and Tony smirks. "It's the original Star Wars. And that shiny monstrosity is the prequels. His is all CGI that ages badly and takes you out of the story, and ours is the practical effects that take you back to your childhood, that feel real and cool and make you believe in the world that little bit more." She looks over at their T-rex and nods to herself. "Ours is so much better."
She can see Peter smiling softly at her in her peripherals, but this isn't a soft moment. It's a victory, a triumph, against her opponent. She was challenged by someone and she nearly let them get the best of her, but she stood up tall and told him to fuck off and Tony's on their side so they won.
But maybe she allows herself to lean into him a little just so she can see his smile widen.
And later, when they're all gathered around a fire and the world is slowly darkening around them, Peter and Mikaela are sat next to each other on a short bench smiling and laughing with Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Bruce, May, and, unfortunately, Happy, the two of them now wearing sweatshirts in the cooling air, and Pepper takes a picture of them both, and Mikaela actually feels like her smile was comfortable and relaxed in the face of the flash.
Pepper gasps and shows the camera first to May, whose face scrunches when she looks at the screen, and then to Tony who pauses his conversation with Rhodey to smile softly before morphing it into something more teasing when he catches Mikaela's eyes.
"Oh god," Mikaela mutters quietly when Pepper stands to bring the camera over.
Peter laughs quietly next to her and takes the camera to bring it down where they can both see it, and his body stills. Mikaela appraises the image a little nervously, too busy trying to look for awkwardness in her expression or posture to realise the look on Peter's face. She thinks it might actually be a nice picture, with them all bundled up and pressed against each other, both smiling happily at the camera with their heads tilted together and the soft glow of the fire on their skin.
"Huh," Peter breathes quietly.
Mikaela twists her neck to look at his face, eyes dancing over his slack features. "Listen, this is, like, the second picture I've willingly-"
"We look good," he murmurs, a loose smile spreading across his face. His eyes are still glued to the picture when he lifts it closer to see it better. "This is a really nice picture."
Mikaela has no idea what to say to that.
Peter turns to look at her, the glow of the fire dancing along one side of his face and casting gentle shadows over the other. His eyes are soft and bright, staring back at her, his nose only an inch or so away from hers. "We look good together," he says quietly, just for her, with the tiniest hint of a smirk in his smile.
"Suppose it'd be awkward if we didn't," is all she can come up with.
He looks back down at the picture, still smiling. "I wanna make this my profile picture," he says softly. Mikaela blinks, her mind working through the implications of that, as Peter continues on, sounding more amused than anything. "Even if it's just to stop those guys in my class trying to tell me my girlfriend isn't real."
But Mikaela has spent the majority of her life cloaking her existence to everything but the naked eye. "I don't know," she says quietly, her chest tightening.
"We've been dating for eight months but there's no proof online," he replies, misunderstanding her.
"Pete, I don't exist," she mutters.
His head turns to look at her again, his expression soft with an innocent confusion. "You don't need a profile," he says.
"No, I mean, even if we're just walking down the street, I don't exist, because no cameras can see me."
"Oh," Peter blinks. "So I always look like I'm alone?"
"It's just habit," she explains. "I've done it ever since I ran from my dad."
Peter looks back down at the camera and runs his thumb over the picture. "So I'll never be able to post pictures of us?"
Mikaela's chest clenches around her heart and she swears her breath leaves her. Enemies who have seen her in person know who she is, and she's never been bothered about them seeing her face like that; but she's always made herself completely untraceable by technology so that enemies who know what she looks like can't track her down. It's kept her safe for years and she never really stopped, even after she and Wade took Diez down, even after she got close with Tony, even after the Snap, and the thought of taking away that precaution makes her massively uneasy, especially now that she has so many people she cares about and wants to protect.
If Peter starts posting pictures of them, she'll be trackable through him. She'd need to let herself be photographed with him by CCTV and friends alike, because otherwise they'd see her altering the image, and they'd wonder if she's the same, uncapturable girl flying around with Iron Man and hanging out with Spider-Man, and then they'll connect Spider-Man to Peter, and his cover will be blown.
"It's fine," Peter says quietly, shaking his head. "It's not important. Social media isn't exactly the same for masked superheroes as it is for normal kids. We can still keep the pictures for ourselves, right?" he asks, turning to look at her.
Mikaela can only stare back at him, her heart thumping painfully in her chest. He knows it's a trivial thing that doesn't actually have much bearing on their real lives and relationship, because social media really shouldn't bear the weight it does in people's lives, so he's willing to forsake it so that she's comfortable and it doesn't put them at any risk. They both know their relationship isn't normal, what with his secret identity and her mutant status, but she thinks that she's probably more accepting of and adaptable to the abnormal than he is, since he wasn't born with his abilities. He's always strived to have that normal sense of the world in his life as a teenager with a secret identity, and she knows he still chases it now in his young adulthood with his college course and his apartment with Ned. Being able to put his relationship on his social media is just another normal thing that he wishes he could partake in, still enjoy, because it's what everyone else their age does. He's happy in their relationship, proud of it, and he's realising that it's not something he can broadcast across the internet for his peers to see and appreciate. She knows he just wants to feel like he can maintain his two lives, and she wants that for him too - so much.
His phone pings lightly in his pocket and he blinks, looking down at it when he slips it out. He sends her a quick frown when he sees the message from the non-existent number, and opens it up to find the picture from the camera. "What're you doing?" he asks quietly, looking up at her again.
Mikaela takes a breath. "Upload it," she replies.
Peter frowns, his back straightening until his head is lifted above hers again. "What?"
Mikaela clears her throat, shrugging. "Upload it."
Peter's eyes flick back and forth between hers. "But then you'll exist."
Mikaela glances around the fire to make sure everyone's caught up in their own conversations. "That's what people do," she says. "They.. exist, with their.." she trails off, shrugging again, awkwardness clogging her throat.
"Boyfriend?" he finishes, his eyes brightening with amusement.
Mikaela frowns defensively. "I mean, I can keep erasing myself and making you look like you're walking down the street talking to thin air, if you'd like."
Peter laughs quietly, leaning into her and pressing a smiling kiss to her temple. "No, no, that's fine," he grins. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about what we are."
Mikaela crosses her arms and leans into him more, lowering her voice to make sure no one else can hear them. "You know I'm following your lead. I'll be whatever you want me to be, because you know I'm with you."
Peter leans away for a moment to pass the camera away so that he can wrap his arm around her when he leans back. "I know," he murmurs. "But I want you to want it, too."
"I don't really know how to want the same things that you do," she admits. "The social media and shit. But I want you. I want this," she mutters, gesturing to their surroundings. "With you."
Peter shifts impossibly closer to her, leaning his forehead in to press against her temple. His eyes dance over his face. "What about further down the line?" he asks almost hesitantly, his words a whisper between them. "Will you want more than this?"
Mikaela frowns. "I'm not going to want someone else, if that's what you mean."
He huffs out a quiet chuckle. "No, I mean, like, I dunno-" he mutters, sighing. "Like, would you want to have an actual home that you come back to every night? Maybe, y'know, like, with me? Instead of constantly moving between schools and the compound and my place and here?"
Mikaela feels her heart jump into her throat, but not necessarily in a bad way. "Anywhere with you is home," she breathes, uncrossing her arms so she can find his free hand and lace their fingers together. "But a permanent place to live? Yeah, I'd probably be open to that."
Peter grins and tilts his head down to catch her lips with his. "Then I don't need to upload the picture."
Mikaela's insides are pure mush because of this guy, and certain other people around the fire, but she can't find it in herself to be angry about it. "I know, but I want you to," she tells him.
Because if Peter can maintain a double life without going insane, at the same time as dealing with her in a relationship, all awkward confessions and bewildered ignorance, then she can let herself be recorded with him and just put in a little more work to protect her own identity when she's doing their special brand of extra-curricular activities.
If it makes Peter happy, then she can't exactly argue against it, can she? A happy Peter is a happy Mikaela, and she knows that a happy Mikaela is a happy Peter. She supposes they're actually quite easy like that.