Riri Williams was a lot of things, but subtle was rarely one of them. As soon as she'd explained to Colonel Rhodes that no, she was not just a creepy fangirl, and yes, Peter had given her his number willingly, he had been open to talking to her about the Iron Man suit. She was sitting nervously outside of her apartment building, waiting for an Uber to take her to the Avengers facility where Rhodes had invited her to see some of the behind-the-scenes for the Iron Man suit exhibit, where all of Tony's work was displayed as a tribute to him.

All of a sudden, Riri heard someone calling her name. She looked around, confused, before her eyes landed on Peter, who was frantically waving from the back window of a large, black SUV. She rushed across the street, spreading her arms as if to say "What the hell are you doing here?"

Peter opened the car door for her, and said "Hop in, we're giving you a ride."

"We're? What? Wait, what is happening?"

"Rhodes called me, said you two were having a meeting, and I thought you could use a ride. Also, there's someone I want to introduce you to."

Riri stared at the woman in front of her. The woman smiled at Peter, and said "I was wondering when you would get to me."

Peter blushed, and said "Riri Williams, may I introduce Pepper Potts-Stark, aka Rescue."

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Williams, I remember your name from some of the fan emails that Tony used to get."

Riri's mouth dropped. "He actually read those? Wait, sorry, holdup. Backtracking. Um...hi. It's nice to meet you as well Ms. Potts, I've heard so much about you. Also, Rescue?"

Pepper nodded. "In case of an emergency, I am permitted to operate on the Avengers team as a subbed-in pilot for my own Iron Man armor, which has been dubbed Rescue by my late husband. And yes, Tony did read those. He loved reading them. He just never made the time to reply."

Riri mulled that fact over in her head for a moment, before frowning. "Okay, hold on. Peter, what the hell?"

Peter froze, and looked at her. "You had an internship with Stark Industries. You met Tony, you met Ms. Potts here, and you met Colonel Rhodes. How on earth did…"

"I'm Spiderman." Peter blurted out.

It was Riri's turn to freeze. She stared at her friend and classmate, trying to process what he had just told her. "You...you...you...what?"

"Harley and Ned both know as well, but I'm telling you because the last thing I want to explain is why I have access to the Avengers facility. Plus, for a superhero, I am really bad at keeping secrets."

Pepper hummed in acknowledgement, clearly aware that Peter was a horrible secret-keeper.

Riri blinked and then breathed in sharply. It made sense. Peter was incredibly skilled athletically, but didn't participate in sports. He was usually distracted, especially when school came to an end, and wasn't available around nighttime. And he was always jittery when Spiderman came up in conversation. Plus, she'd never seen Spiderman and Peter in the same room…"

"Don't tell Miles." Riri finally said.

Peter startled. "What?"

"Don't tell Miles, he'll freak out. He's a huge Spider-fan, you should see his murals."

Peter smiled, and said "I know. I gave one a shout-out on Twitter on the official Spiderman page, and he passed out in excitement. I had to shake him really hard so that his dad didn't freak out."

"Did you see the new one, by your building?" Riri asked. Miles had sent her a photograph, and it was her favorite one so far.

Peter shook his head. "I know that he was working on it, but I haven't seen…" Riri passed him her phone, the picture displayed on the screen before he could finish talking. He frowned and said "You need to pay a cancellation fee to your Uber driver." Riri swore under her breath, and tapped away on her phone for a moment, before passing it back to him. Peter paused, and brought his fist to his mouth, probably to smother a sob.

It was a beautiful rendering of Iron Man, the face plate actually open, to see Tony's face. He was looking upwards, in the same angle his body was facing, and his right hand was gloved by the Infinity gauntlet, all of which emitted a soft glow. The arc reactor in his chest plate seemed to glow as well. At his waist, a small phrase was painted on the artwork. "His sacrifice saved us all."

Candles were placed under the mural in the picture, and a small golden Iron Man Funko Pop figure was sat amongst them. Miles' signature was slightly hidden by the candles, but it was there as well.

Tears streamed down from Peter's eyes, and he extended his arm to show Pepper the picture. Her hand flew to her face, and tears welled in her eyes too. Riri shot both of them a sad smile, and she rubbed Peter's arm, in an effort to show him some support.

"Ms. Potts?" Riri prompted, hoping to grab the woman's attention for a moment.

Pepper took in a deep breath, and composed herself. "Please, call me Pepper. Everyone does."

Riri took a moment to think about what she was about to say. "I would like to continue your husband's legacy if I may. He was a hero to me during my childhood, and his work inspired me to create something that prompted my desire to reach out to Colonel Rhodes."

Both Pepper and Peter looked confused. Riri paused, and then reached into her backpack. Immediately, both Peter and Pepper recognized what she was holding. It was an Iron Man helmet. The maroon pink contrasted on the glossy gold of the faceplate made it distinct enough, as well as some design changes to the shape of the exterior, but it was clearly an Iron Man helmet.

Pepper's mouth hung open, and Peter looked at his friend in both shock and wonder.

"You made this?" Pepper whispered.

Riri nodded. "Yes. I'd like to formally submit myself to participate as an Avenger, carrying on Mr. Stark's legacy as Iron Man."

Pepper smiled, and a tear rolled down her face. "I couldn't imagine a worthier successor. Tony would be very proud. But before I can approve, I have to know, what would your parents think?"

Riri looked down for a moment before saying "I don't have parents. I lived with my aunt for a while, but she died…she died a few years ago. I've been living on my own for a while."

Pepper looked alarmed, and typed something on her phone for a moment, before looking back at Riri. "I see. And you are still in high school?"

Riri nodded. "Yes, I attend Midtown High. I am legally an emancipated minor, I wasn't living with my aunt before she died. And I earn money doing freelance coding, so I have a source of income to pay for my apartment. But, I want to do more with my life. I can do more, and I think this is the best thing anyone could do."

Peter remained silent, and Riri grew worried that he would say something bad. But she needn't have, because a moment later, Peter looked down at her backpack, and asked "Do you have the rest of the suit in there?"

Riri snorted, and shook her head. "No. I only have the helmet and a functional interface, but I'm hoping that Colonel Rhodes would be interested in helping me develop the rest of the suit."

"He won't say no. I'll ask him to work with you and Stark Industries will fund the development." Pepper was typing something on her phone as she said that, like she didn't just said the one thing that would fundamentally change Riri's life.

Peter chuckled at the look on her face. "When the suit's operational, you can join me on some patrols. It'll be nice to have someone else to talk to besides Karen."

Riri cocked her head to the side. "Who's Karen?"

"Karen's the AI embedded in my suit. She helps me out in combat. Maybe you can have Karen too, we'll have to ask Rhodey, if she can be in two suits."

Pepper nodded, and typed on her phone some more. "Riri, what is your address?"

Riri gave it to her, and waited until Ms. Potts put her phone down to ask why.

"I'm having some of Tony's lab equipment moved there, and setting you up with the financial means to continue building the suit, and get you a steadier source of income. Consider yourself official employed by Stark Industries' R&D department for now. We'll also reach out and get a schedule set up so you can go through the process of signing the Accords and getting the mandatory training required to go out on missions. Eventually, we'll also need you to talk to the press as well. Have you given any thought as to the name you would like to be called if you were to operate in the field?"

Riri nodded, still stunned and trying to process what she had just heard, but eventually she realized that she was taking a long time to answer the question, and opened her mouth to provide the name. "Iron Heart."

Pepper and Peter grinned at each other. "That's perfect." Pepper said.

Up in Valhalla, Tony watched all of this, tears running down his face. His Pepper was so strong, and he couldn't agree more that there wasn't a worthier successor. As he watched the car enter the Avengers compound, and Riri twirled around in wonder, trying to take everything in, he turned back to the computer in front of him. On the screen were schematics for a machine, similar to the quantum machine that he had built, only this one wasn't designed to jump through time. This would allow Tony to jump through dimensions.