Tony's Girls

By: InitialA

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Marvel universe.

"UNCLE THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!"

Thor laughed and scooped up the twins in a massive hug. Their already unruly hair stuck out a little more from the residual charge left over from his dramatic entrance. "Truly, I am greeted by the fairest maidens of Midgard!"

"Doesn't 'fair' mean blond?" Tonia asked. "We're redheads."

"He means we're pretty," Cleo told her, blushing slightly. At eleven, Cleo was hitting puberty faster than her sister. Even though he was her adoptive uncle and he loved their Aunt Jane, she still thought Thor was handsome.

"And here is the loveliest woman created," Thor announced as he spotted Jane. Even after more than a decade of courtship, she still couldn't suppress a nervous giggle as he kissed her hand in greeting. He grinned at her, and then kissed her in the usual way.

Tonia made a face; Cleo sighed wistfully. "Ew, really? Uncle Thor?" Tonia asked.

"He's handsome! But no, other than that… It'd just be nice if a boy treated me like Uncle Thor treats Aunt Jane. Don't you think?"

Tonia rolled her eyes. "What boys do you know? Other than Squeaker?"

Cleo's cheeks were burning red under her freckles. It was true that they went to an all-girls prep school, but unlike her sister she didn't spend all of her free time in the labs. Occasionally she sneaked over the fence with a few friends to watch the boys' prep school play soccer at a nearby park. Tonia didn't know this, of course, (one of the few secrets kept between them). "At least I know something about boys. I don't spend every moment in a lab."

"And that's why you got an A-minus on the last chemistry exam."

"Not everything is about school, Tonia."

"No, you're right. The important thing is blasting through it so I can get into M.I.T. earlier than Dad did and hold it over his head for the rest of his life."

Cleo sighed, and walked away from her sister. It wasn't worth the argument. It would only spoil her appetite, and they always had the best foods when Thor came to Earth.

Later that night, Cleo went to find her mother. Tonia was babysitting Squeaker, (their nickname for Uncle Rhodey and Aunt Darcy's two-year old son), and she wasn't sure when she'd get another chance to talk privately with Pepper for another month. She was in luck, finding her mother in the living space with half of the usual amount of paperwork spread out on the coffee table. She'd actually manage to have more than half of Pepper's attention. "Hey, Mom?"

"Hi sweetheart."

"Mom, I need to talk to you about something."

She must have sounded more serious than intended; because Pepper took off her glasses and gave her a look she and Tonia had long-ago dubbed the "Dad-handler". It was the look she wore whenever Tony did something stupid, and needed to be reined in and spun in another direction before the news ran away with it. "Cleo, what's wrong?"

"Oh God, Mom, don't give me the Dad-handler look, please. It's not that serious!"

Pepper moved some of her work so Cleo could sit next to her on the couch. "Well, you usually don't come to me with problems."

"Well… I don't know if Dad wants to talk to me about boys."

Pepper smirked. "Oh, I'm sure he does. He just doesn't want to tell you the good things about boys."

"Because he used to be that kind of boy and he doesn't want his little girl to get messed around the way he used to mess around other dad's little girls, yeah," Cleo muttered.

"Somehow I don't think he'd appreciate the irony," Pepper told her. Cleo often wondered if her mother had ever regretted being so open about Tony's past, or her relationship with Tony (though it had never occurred to her or Tonia that parents were supposed to be married until they entered school and saw how different families worked; out of all their adoptive aunts and uncles, only Bruce and Betty had married, and they were childless). She supposed that Pepper's thinking had been along the lines of "They'll find out eventually from someone, so let's just make it clear from the start", but hearing her say things like that was still slightly upsetting.

Still, there was nothing she could do about that now. "Right… Well… Is it weird, like… Tonia doesn't care about boys or romance or anything. And we're twins, and we've always been exactly the same. It just seems… I mean… So why do I care about these things, but she'd rather stay in the lab all day and just… work? I know she wants to get into M.I.T. earlier than Dad did, but she's just… there's more to it than that, right?"

Pepper rested her head on her hand. Cleo fought the urge to sigh with envy—which was another annoying thing she was noticing lately. She disliked being so short and a bit stocky, compared to her mother's willowy form. Even her sister was starting to look more like Pepper than she was. They made everything look elegant, even when Tonia was just mixing chemicals. "Well, Cleo, it's okay if you two have different interests. You've always been into the same things, so it's going to seem weird for a while. And everyone gets into romance at different stages. I was about your age when I started noticing boys."

Cleo didn't like to think about her mother liking other boys than her father. "But I still like the same stuff, I just... I like other things now too. Tonia thinks that the fact that I like boys is just getting in the way, since I got a lower score than her on the last chemistry test. She thinks it's distracting me."

"Personally, I think it's better if you have more interests. You two have always been so focused on being just like your dad that it worries me. You can't always be so single-minded."

"But Tonia…"

"Tonia will come to realize this in her own time. Or she won't. And that's okay too. I honestly don't think I could handle having two of your father around the house, and I'd prefer it if she didn't. Or maybe she just doesn't like boys. Maybe she likes girls. Maybe she doesn't care who she likes. Maybe she doesn't like anyone."

Cleo puzzled over that one. It seemed, to her, that two people who came from exactly the same place should always remain identical, in mind, body, and spirit. "Can she do that?"

"She can. And even if she couldn't… you know your sister. She'd do it anyway."

"But we won't be the same."

"And you won't be."

Suddenly Cleo felt tears stinging her eyes. "But I don't want Tonia and me to be different!"

Pepper looked alarmed, and Cleo knew it was because she never was one to cry—even after the time Dummy had accidentally hit her in the arm with a hot iron; she still had the scar, a long, thin stripe. She let her mother hold her and stroke her hair while she cried. "I know, sweetie," Pepper said soothingly. "You two have always had each other, and it's scary when people drift apart. And you know what? Tonia probably thinks the same. She sees you getting interested in other things, and she gets scared because she wonders if you aren't interested in doing things with her anymore. She wants you to keep up with her in school. She's probably scared that you won't come with her to M.I.T., and she doesn't want to go alone."

"She doesn't?" Cleo asked, her voice thick.

"You'll have to talk to her about it, but I'm sure she's just as scared about growing apart from you as you are about her."

"But… But what if I don't want to go to M.I.T.? Tonia wants to be like Dad, but what if I want to go somewhere else?"

"You and Tonia will have to talk about that. You get a say in this too."

Cleo sniffed, wiping her cheeks. "Okay…"

"Can I ask what started this?"

She felt her cheeks reddening again. "There's a boys' school nearby… me and some of the other girls watch them play soccer in the park sometimes, and there's one boy who's really cute but I can't talk to Tonia about it because she doesn't care…"

Pepper kissed her on top of her head. "In my opinion as a mom, you're a little young to be going with any boys."

"Mo-om. No one says 'going with' anymore. And I'd die of embarrassment before I could talk to him."

"Well, alright then, maybe if you tell your sister everything you told me, she'll realize that if she wants you two to stick together, she has to compromise and try to care about some of the things you care about."

Cleo knew she was right; the hard part was making Tonia listen to her for more than twelve seconds. As if she'd read her mind, Pepper said, "You know how you've got your dad wrapped around your little finger?" Cleo nodded, smiling a little. "Try the same tactics on her. She's more like your dad than you think. And remember that sometimes… even when they look like they're absorbed in their work and can't concentrate on anything else, they'll still be listening to every word you say. And some of it even sticks."

"Like you and the strawberries," Cleo remarked slyly. About once every three years, Tony would accidentally purchase something made with strawberries as a gift, and they'd have to go through the entire argument again.

Pepper gave her a look. "Yes, like me and the strawberries. Just give it time. Eventually it'll stick."

"How long are you waiting for it to stick with Dad?"

Her mother put her reading glasses back on. "Until Judgment Day, I'm afraid."