February 3, 2016

Midtown School of Science and Technology

New York City, New York

Morgan Potts stood outside the building of her school. Ignoring everybody who passed her as she scanned the crowd in search of her friends. Honestly, how could both of them take so long? She had to straighten her hair and do a light dusting of makeup and she was early.

It took another ten minutes of waiting before she saw familiar heads of brown and nearly black hair peeking through the crowd of student.

"There we are Parker, Leeds. I was starting to think you got lost," Morgan says, throwing an arm over Peter's shoulders.

"Hey Morgan. Sorry about that."

"Yeah, Flash decided to try and run Peter over, again."

"What's that? Third time this week?" Morgan raised an eyebrow at Peter.

"It's fine, really. He didn't actually hit me."

Speak of the devil. As if summoned by their discussion Flash Thompson made his was towards them. He was taller than the three of them.

"Hey Penis Parker, have fun flailing on the ground?" His tone haughty. Morgan felt the scowl creeping onto her face. Flash Thompson was such a stuck-up jerk. The kind of guy who thinks he can do what he wants because his daddy's rich. The school lets him do whatever he wants.

And Peter's too nice to do anything.

"Y'know Flash, why don't you just propose already?" Morgan asked snidely, her mouth quirking into a smirk. "I mean you sure go out of your way to get Peter's attention. Aren't you tired of that closet yet?"

Flash turned his attention to her. "I am not gay. And if I was I wouldn't like Penis Parker."

"Then maybe you should get lost," Ned says stepping forward.

Before Flash can respond the warning bell rings. "This isn't over." Then he marches towards the front door. Peter lets out a sigh of relief.

"You didn't have to do that Morgan," he said.

"No." She grins. "But I wanted too. Did you see that look on his face?" she laughs.

Peter chuckles. "You're unbelievable. You know that right?"

Morgan only smirks, turning on her heels and stepping into the building.

...

"A genealogy report? Why do we even need to do a project like that here?" Morgan grumbled, slinging her overweight backpack over her shoulders.

Peter was still loading up his own. "I don't see what the big deal is."

She frowns. "The big deal is that now I'll have to talk to my mom about stuff I really don't want to mention. Plus my grade is on the line here. My mother's side of the family will be a walk in the park, my father on the other hand."

"You've still not asked your mom about him?" Ned asks, stepping up beside Peter.

Morgan shook her head. "It's not that simple. 'Hey mom can you tell me about the man who wanted nothing to do with us?' And then she'll what? Just tell me."

"Sorry but looks like you're gonna have to." Peter shrugs.

Sudden shame floods through her. She's been to busy complaining about having to talk to her mom that she hadn't even thought about Peter's situation. Both parents and an uncle dead. He'd have to talk to his Aunt May about everything.

"This must be hard on you too," she says. Peter hauls his backpack up and closes his locker.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I get what you mean though. I don't want to ask May about it either but it's for school. At least I know who both parents are and Uncle Ben," he falters, "-was my dad's brother so that round my total up."

"My mom doesn't really talk about her parents. I think they died a long time ago. Long before I was born. The only relative I know of is my Great-Uncle Morgan. He's who I'm named after."

"That must be strange right? Having the same name as your uncle."

Morgan shrugs, following Peter and Ned. "Not really. We hardly see him. He's always pretty busy and so is mom."

Ned looks over at her. "Didn't your mom get a job at some big corporation?"

"Yeah, Oscorp." Morgan doesn't miss the way Peter tenses up. "She's working as a secretary in the main office. She's been there for awhile though. It's the reason we moved to New York when I was four. What made you think about it?"

Ned shakes his head. "We just had that field trip six months ago and I felt like I was forgetting something but I just couldn't remember what."

"Sorry guys but I've got to get home, see you later!" Peter says, hurrying off.

"That was strange right?"

"Definitely," Morgan agreed.

...

Peter was hiding something. That much she knew for sure, but she wasn't going to pry into his business. He'd tell her when he was ready and she'd respect his wishes.

That left only one thing on her mind.

The genealogy project. Morgan's always been curious about who her father is. She asked a lot when she was a little girl. Curious and wondering why she didn't have a daddy like her friends did. Her mother wasn't secretive, exactly, she was conservative about the information she gave.

Apparently her father was too reckless and irresponsible to be a parent and he'd opted out of being involved in her life. She'd asked if it was something she did. Her mother denied that. Saying that it was all on him and that she shouldn't ever blame herself for the way everything turned out.

Morgan turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

"Mom. Why are you here? I thought you were working late today."

Her mother was a beautiful woman with long red hair that curls around her shoulders. The freckles on her face easy to see from the sunlight streaming through the open window. She's dressed impeccably. She must've just got home. From the button down to the pencil skirt and red heels. Her lips were painted to match.

"I was supposed to but Maggie, the girl I was covering for, was able to make it after all so I thought I'd surprise you," she says, moving to sweep her into a hug.

"Hey mom, can I ask you something?" she mumbles, hesitant. She thought she'd have more time to figure out what she wanted to say but doing it now means she can't sit and dwell on it.

"Of course, sweetie." Pepper sits down on the couch. "Is it something to do with school?"

"Yeah. We were given a project and I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to do it. It has to do with genealogy. Or specifically, my genealogy."

Morgan hears her mother's breath hitch. Then she breathes out. "This is about your father, isn't it?"

She fiddles with a loose string on her backpack.

"Come here," Pepper pats the cushion beside her. Reluctantly Morgan sits down beside her mother. "Look, I knew this day would come, but I'd hoped it was something I could hold off on until your were eighteen. You're father isn't just anybody. If he was I would've told you a long time ago, but he's well-known and I didn't want you to be disappointed when you found out."

"You do know who my father is then?"

Pepper scoffs, nudging her. "Of course I do. When's your project due?"

"Sometime next month."

"Here's what I'll do. Your birthday is a week from now, so I'll tell your everything you want to know about your father on your fifteenth birthday. Is that a deal?"

"That's not very long, why not tell me now?" she asked.

Pepper smiles, pressing a chaste kiss to her daughter's forehead. "I'd feel a lot better waiting until you're a bit only. Even if it's only by another week. Please?"

"Okay, thanks mom."

...

Avengers Tower

New York City, New York

A year has passed since Ultron and Tony Stark is still sorting through all the corrupted files left in his system. He's been spending what little time he has to uncorrupt and organize the files. Normally this would be work for a trusted ally but seeing as he doesn't trust anyone enough to fiddle around with his systems, the job was up to him.

The current file he was working on was a folder that contained multiple documents. It was probably some other unimportant thing like the last two hundred but after everything that's happened it was necessary.

Just a bit longer and... aha!

The first document loaded on the screen. It was an email. An old one too by the looks of it.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. read it aloud," he tells the AI.

"The email was sent from one Virginia Potts to Obadiah Stane on May 26, 2000."

That catches Tony's attention as he looks up from the repulser in front of him. "An email sent to Obadiah huh? Now that is interesting."

"Hello Mr. Stane, I apologize for the suddenness of this message but I needed to get in contact with somebody and you seemed to be the most likely to respond. I never told you the real reason for my resignation but at the time the reason wasn't important. Tony and I slept together and I felt it would be inappropriate for me to remain his personal PA with such a line being crossed. However there's been a new development and I'd like to speak you you in person. As soon as possible would be great. Sincerely, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts.

"Pepper Potts? That sounds familiar. So she was my PA huh? Oh the redhead. Wonder what development came up that would make her contact Obadiah."

"The next email has been uncorrupted, would you like me to read it?"

"Go ahead," Tony says, still trying to picture Pepper's face. In 2000 huh? A lot of that time was a blur, all the drinking and parties. Not to mention sleeping around.

"From Obadiah Stane to Virginia Potts. May 26, 2000. Hello Ms. Potts. It's good to hear from your again. I was surprised to receive your message. Not everything works out as we'd like and it's unfortunate that you had to resign but I fully understand. Working with someone after something unprofessional isn't easy and I'm glad you chose to resign rather than allow things to become complicated. I'll need to know what developments have come up which have led you to contact me. With regard, Obadiah Stane."

"From Virginia Potts to Obadiah Stane. May 26, 2000. I don't know the best way to say this and I know how this is going to sound. I'm pregnant. I wasn't sure what to do and I couldn't get in contact with Tony and I don't want this getting out to the public right now. So I figured talking to you might be simpler. I would also like to make myself clear that I'm not after money but he is the father and has a right to know. I'm keeping it and if he wants to be involved he can. I won't keep him from the child, if he want to that is. Please let him know and inform me of Mr. Stark decision. Sincerely, Virginia Potts.

The loud clattering of the drill hitting the metal table echoes loudly in the open room. Wait, what? Hold up, pregnant. A baby? Obadiah Stane never told him anything about a pregnancy lawsuit. Not that he should be surprised. It's not like the man was trustworthy. So he and Pepper slept together and a few months later she emails Obadiah saying she's pregnant and it's his?

There've been plenty of women claiming he was the father of their child but all the test proved otherwise. They were money hungry women trying to get something out of him. Pepper never seemed like the type and Obadiah seemed to think so too. Based on his emails. If anyone would be telling the truth it would be Pepper.

"Is there anything else?" he asks, almost breathless. It wasn't everyday you found out you might be a father.

"There's an message from Obadiah Stane to Virginia Potts about requiring a paternity test once the child was born for legal reasons and her confirmation of the test."

"Search for Virginia Potts during that time period. She lived somewhere around Malibu back when I lived out there. If she had a baby there should be medical records."

"I found a Virginia Potts born April 10, 1972 in Sacramento, California. She gave birth to a little girl on February 10, 2001 at a hospital in California."

Nausea rolled through him.

"And what about this paternity test? Was it ever done?"

"Among the uncorrupted files there appears to be a test to determine paternity for the child."

Tony turns towards the screen. "Pull it up for me FRI."

It wasn't hard to read the paperwork, It states the DNA was taken the moment the baby was born and the test was complete about a week later. Confirming the results.

He was a father. There was a living, breath child with half of his DNA.

"Congratulations to me," he mutters sarcastically. "Looks like Obadiah Stane is still screwing me over and he's long dead. F.R.I.D.A.Y. what else are you finding."

"I've started searching through old document from Obadiah Stane during 2001 and have found something that might be connected. There's a very well hidden bank account that is inaccessible until the inheritor turns eighteen. The account currently hold 400,000 dollar and seems to be a college fund. It is to be turned over to one Morgan H. Potts on February 10, 2019."

"Her name's Morgan? So Obadiah knew Pepper was pregnant and made sure to keep me ignorant. If I had an heir he wouldn't have been able to control the company like he wanted too. So he made them go away by saying I wanted noting to do with them. Okay FRI, I need you to find Morgan Potts."

A/N:

There we go. I don't know how good this chapter is. It feels pretty eh to but it's been awhile since I've written anything and I'm not quite use to these characters yet. I probably need to re-watch Spiderman: Homecoming to get a better feel for Peter and Ned's characters. Maybe Iron Man series too. Anything with Pepper in it.

Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know down below.