This is from Pepper's POV, and I had problems trying to write it that way. I hope I did okay.

Lullaby For a Stormy Night

Pepper had rushed to New York as quickly as she could. Telling Tony that a last minute board meeting was being called to discuss the fourth quarter projections and where Stark Industries stood to make them. She was pretty sure as soon as the word board meeting left her mouth Tony stopped paying attention, something she was counting on.

Pepper was anxious, nervous, and a little excited. The anxiousness and nervousness was easy to pinpoint. Darcy had sounded distraught and troubled over the phone, and Pepper was afraid of what would make Darcy feel that way. The excitement she felt was that she realized that Darcy had called her first. Not Clint. Not Rhodey. Not Tony. But her.

It had never happened before.

So she was worried beyond belief, but she was also excited to be called. Growing up, Darcy had always called Tony first. Then Tony would realize a woman was needed to handle whatever had Darcy in tears and would send for Pepper. No matter what, where, or when.

When Darcy was eleven, Pepper had been working for Tony for three years. The young girl had started her menses, and the look on Tony's face was priceless. Pepper liked to think that Darcy would have called Pepper first if she hadn't planned for JARVIS to take photos and record video of Tony's expression.

Darcy was a heartbreaker as a teenager, but the one time, when the girl was only nineteen, she managed to get her own heart broken. It was two in the morning and Pepper had already gone to bed, was probably in a deep rem sleep cycle, dreaming of something or the other, when her phone had gone off. Tony, unsure of how to get his daughter to stop crying had called the only woman he knew. Pepper had rushed over as quickly as possible and simply held the girl as she cried. The next day, they watched silly romantic comedies and threw popcorn at the screen. It seemed like something that the girl would do with Tony, but it had meant the world to Pepper to have bonded with her in such a way. Between the laughs, the girl would sob her heart out, and all Pepper could do was give her a hug.

And oh how Pepper hoped that this wasn't like that. She didn't think Clint would have left Darcy. They fought every once in awhile, yeah, but over really stupid things. The biggest fight the pair had was when he tried to keep Darcy in the dark about what happened during New York. That was a loud affair, and Pepper knew about it because Tony complained how he couldn't interfere as it was before the team was aware of his relationship with Darcy. Luckily, Darcy was tenacious and hard-headed. The most stubborn person Pepper knew, and she included Tony Stark in that list. Eventually, Clint had caved, and Pepper recalled helping Darcy come up with outings the pair could go on to keep his mind off of things.

The pair were so blindingly in love that Pepper knew Tony wanted to go to Malibu to get away from the 'sickening sight' (his words). She thought they were really cute and she was really happy for the girl.

If the pair were fighting, Pepper could understand why Darcy had called her. Calling Tony would only encourage the man into inventing something to annoy the other Avenger. Jane was away in Norway, so reaching her best friend was out. Natasha was more of Clint's friend, so Pepper could see why the girl wouldn't want to talk about whatever fight the couple could be having with the spy. She wouldn't think about how she was the only person available for the girl to call, and that being the only reason. Pepper had been in Darcy's life since she was eight, they had a bond. It wasn't maternal, Pepper would never overstep like that, but they were still close.

So the reason behind this call, Pepper didn't know what to do. So she prepared for anything. She made sure she had extra tissues in her bag, a bottle of tequila (it was to Darcy what scotch was to Tony), and had JARVIS ready with the romcoms Pepper knew Darcy enjoyed (10 Things I Hate About You, About a Boy, Clueless, Love Actually, She's All That, and Simply Irresistable). And if Darcy wasn't in tears because she was heartbroken, and actually angry, Pepper was also prepared. She had preemptively booked an hour at the local laser tag arena. Had JARVIS queue up some of Darcy's favorite action movies (Batman and Robin, Casino Royale, Fifth Element, Men in Black, Serenity, and the Bourne Series). The girl enjoyed the irony, and Pepper could agree, and hoped that Darcy was more angry than sad because she actually enjoyed that particular queue more. She also brought one of Tony's prototype bombs that was meant for one of Tony's new suits. Pepper figured if she let Darcy detonated it on the Hulk-proof sub-level, it would cheer the girl up either way.

Sad or angry, Pepper was prepared, as she always was.

But she wasn't prepared for the actual news Darcy gave her.

It wasn't until Pepper met the Starks that she found herself gaping. And she would only ever gape from news coming from or about them. It became a regular occurrence. She learned to keep her teeth extra clean, because of it.

And this. This was big. This was huge.

She totally teared up because Darcy had told her before Tony.

It was sort of a secret, but Pepper couldn't have children. She had known this before working for Stark Industries, she learned it when in college, actually. Only Tony knew about it. It was something they had discussed once, back when she was still that bright-eyed PA, when he had actually managed to get Pepper drunk enough to admit that even if she wanted kids in the future, she couldn't.

She liked to pretend that after that night, Tony was pushing her to spend more time with his daughter because he wanted them to get along, not to fill some hole that Pepper rarely paid attention to.

Stark Industries had became her child. And Tony Stark could probably be considered one too. So she didn't need a baby.

And now, it was okay. She and Tony were together. They watched Darcy grow up. They were working on leaving her the best possible legacy with the company. Pepper was considered one of the best (the list included men, and Pepper was most proud of this) CEOs in the world. She didn't have time for children.

But sometimes she could wish. Could dream.

"I know this is like. Totally unexpected. But umm. Like, Clint's parents aren't around, you know? And dad. Well. He's dad. And I'm pretty lucky to have turned out so great. And to live this long. And I know a lot of that has to do with you. You know?" Darcy couldn't look Pepper in the eye, just shook in her seat on the couch and continued. "And this kid. My kid. Well, the baby is going to need one sane grandparent. So, even though dad hasn't gotten his act together yet. And even if he never does. And you two manage to split because he's finally pushed you too far. Totally understandable. But like. Since I was eight, you've been sort of like. A mom-figure. But it was weird, because I was eight. But with this baby. You're going to be there from day one. And like," Darcy rambled, finally taking a deep breath, turned to look directly at Pepper. "Do you want to be called Grandma? Nana? Grandmother? Gamma? I don't know what other variations there are. I'm partial to Nana cause that's what I called mine. And like, you look so young. I'm sorry to make you a grandmother so-"

Pepper threw herself at the younger woman. Arms wrapped tightly, she cried into Darcy's shoulder. There was a running joke in the Starks, one that Tony would always share when referring to his deceased parents. He would say that it was the best story he had of his dad (no longer true) but it went something like this. Being a grandparent is the best. It's like being a parent. You get to spoil the kid rotten. Get to feel all that love. But when they start crying or misbehaving. You can give it back to its parents. Pepper would never abandon the child if it was crying or bad, but this. Darcy was giving her the closest she could ever get to her biggest dream. "Gamma. I like Gamma. It's cute and not too old sounding," she chuckled wetly.

Patting her on the back, Darcy, also in tears, asked, "Why you crying?"

"Just. Darcy, you're having a baby." Pepper exhaled. Leaning back, she looked at Darcy's flat stomach. "A baby!"

"A baby," Darcy grinned, face splotchy from the little crying bit the pair just went through.

"Okay, okay." Pepper took a deep breath. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out the tissue and handed some to Darcy.

Giggling, Darcy took the tissue and wiped her face. "Did I finally stump you? Something your bag of tricks can't supply something for?"

"I think so."

Throwing both hands into the air, Darcy shouted, "Ha! When we finally tell Rhodey, I can collect. JARVIS, log this."

"Of course, Darcy."

"I still don't understand how you got him to call you by your name. I've been around for more than ten years and I'm still Miss Potts."

"She convinced me that because we were both made by Sir, that we were siblings and siblings refer to the other by their first name."

"That actually makes sense," Pepper pursed her lips, "in a weird way."

"Eh." Darcy shrugged. "I'm a Stark."

"And you're going to be having a baby!" Pepper clapped her hands excitedly. "We're happy, yes?"

"Yes. We weren't planning for it. We've only been having sex for a few months now. But I think this is good news. Do you think Clint won't think it's good news?" Darcy wrung her hands.

"I'm not particularly close with him, but I know that the man loves you dearly, so I'd imagine he'd be happy to be having a child with you."

Smiling, Darcy looked at Pepper shyly. "He loves me?"

Shoving her, Pepper said, "Don't play coy. I know you both say it to each other all the time."

"Yeah. We do."

"And you're going to tell him?"

"When he gets back from this latest mission," she pouted. "I miss him."

"I'm sure. How are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know. Maybe get a baby bow or something? I had that small screwdriver when I was little. I can already tell Clint is going to want our kid to be an archer. Which is cool. I guess. As long as the arrows aren't sharp." Darcy's eyes grew. "Is this what it was like? Pepper, was this how you felt when I was in dad's lab? Oh my Thor! I'm going to be a parent." She made a disgusted face.

Laughing so loud, Pepper covered her mouth. "Yes. You'll have to think about safety before fun."

"That sounds horrible," Darcy hissed. "And God, me and Clint are all about fun. JARVIS, you are officially on safety duty. I give you permission to disregard me and Clint if our child's safety is in question. And you need to remind us and all that."

"Yes, Darcy." It sounded as if the AI wanted to laugh, and Pepper knew that JARVIS was only ever like that with Darcy. They were siblings, afterall.

"I won't need a contract until the kid's older, yeah? I didn't have one until I was fifteen, and that was just cause me and dad needed the rules written somewhere."

"You should be okay. But you will need to babyproof."

"The whole tower?"

Nodding, Pepper pulled her StarkPad from her purse and began adding items to the to-do list. Hire contractors. Hire baby-proof expert.

The device was snatched out of her hands, and Darcy was glaring at her. "No. You can do that later. Right now, you're here to be the supportive aunt- slash- babysitter- slash- dad's- girlfriend that you are."

"Is that how you refer to me in your head?" Amused, Pepper teased.

"I tried calling you mom a few times," Darcy whispered. "It felt wrong."

"Hey." Placing a hand on the girl's knee, she squeezed. "It's okay."

"I never had a mom. I had Nana and Auntie Peggy. And you. And I'm totally the badass chick I am because of all of you. But I've never had an actual mom. How am I supposed to know what to do?"

"Here's a secret," Pepper replied, scooting closer to the girl. "Most parents don't actually know what they're doing. They sort of play it by ear and hope for the best."

"That's dumb," Darcy giggled.

"But the truth."

"I guess." Shrugging, Darcy threaded her fingers with Pepper's. "And I do have a pretty good example to use. Pepper, I don't think I've ever said it, but thanks."

Tears pooling in her eyes once more, Pepper smiled. "No need-"

"No, really. I mean, I'd probably have died by now without you. After Nana and Auntie Peggy. It was just you. And dad. I love the man. But he's really not made out for parenthood, you know? Like, we couldn't even have a Lorelei-Rory sort of parent-daughter relationship."

"I don't think anyone could compare to the Tony-Darcy sort of parent-daughter relationship," Pepper joked. "But hey! I can totally see you being like Lorelei."

"Oh man, yes!" Darcy clapped once. "And we can have a weekly dinner with you and dad. But Clint is there, but he can just be like Luke and that sort of works, maybe? I don't know."

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, just thinking on the future.

"Fuck it, we're going to be Darcy and Clint and whatever we decide to name the baby. We'll have dinner more than once a week with you and dad if we feel like it, not because we have it scheduled weekly."

"Any ideas on names? And no matter what your dad says, please don't name it Daryl. I don't care how much the three of you enjoy Walking Dead, you better not name your child after a character from the show. I don't care how awesome of an example he is for a zombie apocalypse."

Chuckling, Darcy shook her head. "Definitely not. I don't know. Don't laugh, okay. But I really like the name Merida, if its a girl."

"Merida Barton? Merida Lewis Stark?"

"Barton. Definitely Barton. I hated not having Stark as my last name growing up. Felt like I had more to prove."

"You could always change it, you know." Pepper pointed out.

"No point now."

Pepper's eyes grew large, jaw dropping. "Are you and Clint-"

"Not yet. Maybe in the future?" Darcy shrugged. "I want to marry him. When he asks. And not because I'm pregnant."

"That's fair." Nodding, Pepper pulled out the bottle of tequila. "You mind? I can get you some lemonade or something?"

"I think I'm going to miss the booze the most."

"No. Your clothes. Shoes. Body. So many better things to miss than booze."

"True," Darcy cried, standing to get two tumblers from the bar, as well as some apple juice. Handing a tumbler to Pepper, she watched as the alcohol was poured. "But I will still miss the booze."

"You are Tony Stark's daughter." Clinking her glass to Darcy's, she toasted, "To the baby."

"To the baby."