Chapter 4: Daisy, Porcupine of AngstNotes:I miss Agents of SHIELD so much. Just fuck Disney for canceling all their shows on any platform that isn't Disney+. I mean I liked Daredevil, and I adored AoS. Obviously lots of other Marvel shows but those were my favorites. I mean I couldn't watch Jessica Jones or Luke Cage without being horrifically depressed after a single episode so I just kinda....appreciated them from afar. But they seemed incredibly excellent. But it's the day the roomy and I would usually Watch AoS episodes and we're both like 'so uh....should we start a new show?'
Chapter TextDaisy stilled in the doorway. She took in the ease May and Peter moved around each other with as they got ready for the day. They were family. She was surprised by the ache she felt watching them. Biting at her lip she wavered. It would be so dangerous to stay. Dangerous for this small family she was bound to by blood and gratitude.
She continued forward before either of the Parker's noticed her lingering. "Morning."
"Daisy, have you seen my purple sweatshirt?" Peter asked while stuffing his notebook into his bag.
Daisy grabbed her leather jacket and chucked it at him. "You left it at the warehouse yesterday."
"I can wear your jacket?" He looked at her, wide eyed.
Aunt May dropped Peter's lunch into his arms. "You're going to be late!"
"Right going, going." He stuffed the lunch in his bag and took off, jacket safely hugged under one arm.
Daisy laughed while claiming a mug with Grumpy Cat on it. It was enough to know that the Parkers and Darcy could exist like this. "Need a ride to work Aunt May?"
"Please." Aunt May grabbed her purse and paused. "If that's still alright? I hate to ask it, but with the honda in the shop it's just-"
"Hard." Daisy finished for her. "It's fine, I need to pick up some stuff for the van anyways. It's not a problem."
Aunt May smiled. "Well thank you. And don't even think about trying to pay for the honda's work. I can more than afford it thanks to the mystery money."
"Wonder how that happened." Daisy made a note to put the equivalent of the repair costs in the Parker account, instead of just paying for the thing. Aunt May's expression when she realized would be hilarious. The joys of misusing her hacking skills. It was excellent fun.
Aunt May gave her 'the' look while locking the door. "Yes, I wonder how that happened."
"Maybe one of the tellers is in love?" Daisy pulled her black knit beanie down over her head. "Half the neighborhood is."
Aunt May huffed. "Half the neighborhood is not in love with me."
"You get free potstickers when you order take out, and I know you had a number on your starbucks cup yesterday." Daisy raised her brow.
Aunt May didn't blush or brush it off, she just...was. "I'm not interested so I guess I don't notice it."
"I understand that." Daisy shoved her hands into her pockets as they walked down the block to the van.
Aunt May stopped them with a hand on Daisy's upper arm. "Daisy?"
"I still say you should work it. The free food and drinks, own it." Daisy cocked her head to the side, her face turning playful. She was not going to talk about Lincoln.
Aunt May was quiet for a long second. She squeezed Daisy's arm before walking again. "It is nice to get free stuff."
"You know you look good when you don't pay for your drinks." Daisy pulled out the keys as they approached her eyesore of a van.
Aunt May laughed. "I wouldn't know. Ben and I were dating by senior year of high school."
"We have got to get you to a club at some point." Daisy unlocked her clunker. "I mean you legit work to help people while raising Peter. You need a night on the town occasionally."
"Oh I don't know about that." Aunt May waved off while climbing in. She looked into the back and then back to Daisy. "Do I want to know why there's that many screens in the back?"
Daisy perked up, she was proud of the van. "Since you've got Darcy, I'm setting up a computer rig. There's a cabin rental I paid up for the next ten years. If you guys need to get out you grab your bags, get to the van and I have alternate routes pre-loaded. Or well I'm working on that. Also installing police scanners and setting the computer rig to help you track any type of threat."
"The guns?" Aunt May asked in resignation.
She started up the beast and pulled into traffic. "They're all non-lethal. You might want to join a gun club. Maybe meet some ladies to go clubbing with."
"You're not going to teach me to shoot?" Aunt May asked.
Daisy grinned. "Well I'd be happy to teach you how to shoot while Peter works on the new forms. Just assumed you'd want to practice, and it's great stress relief."
"Sign me up for a self defence class. All three of us can go together once a week." Aunt May's face was serious.
Daisy looked over meeting Aunt May's eyes. "Gotcha, maybe make sure Darcy sees sunlight too."
"Both of you girls need more sunlight." Aunt May huffed in amusement.
She laughed while cutting off a taxi. "You should have seen me when I spent a year in an underground bunker. I only left for missions. The vitamin D supplements Simmons made us all take still haunt me."
"She's the one you call occasionally?" Aunt May asked.
Daisy softened at the reminder of her best friend. "Yeah, Doctor Jemma Simmons. She's my best friend. Which is wild because she's brilliant and all proper and English. But I can't imagine a world without her." She sighed. "I'm going to have to just buy her and Fitz an apartment, they'll never get their dream on with their current budget."
"I worry about the money funneling." Aunt May sighed. "But nice to know it's not just me."
Daisy felt properly smug. "Darcy hasn't realized her college is paid off." She pulled up in front of May's work. Eyeing the people around the homeless shelter, she leaned back in her seat. "I'll set up those self defense classes. First shooting lesson is this evening."
Daisy frowned as she followed the online chatter surrounding the Accords. Stark's army of lawyers had stalled it. But the public was turning against the Avengers. It would take one mistake for someone to try and force the Accords, or something like it through. And it would be open season on people like Peter if that happened. The wording was freaking her out. "They're targeting anyone capable of harm. It won't just be enhanced, it's going to be doctors, scientists, hell maybe even professional athletes. Anyone who deviates from average."
"If there's too much collateral on a mission the Avengers won't be able to stop something like the Accords from passing." Darcy agreed. "It doesn't help that they don't take responsibility for their fallout and no one asks them to. They're too unapproachable."
She sent out a request to some of her Rising Tide contacts. "I'm going to drop some messages around but...Stark is too far removed from normal people."
"Not mentioning the irony there." Darcy looked up. "But look, people with powers are separate from 'normal' society." Darcy used finger quotes for 'normal'. "The world needs powered next door neighbors so ya'll aren't so...separate. And the Avengers' PR team sucks, actually I don't even know if they have one. There's no accountability, no nothing. So as long as the threats aren't alien invasion big why should people trust hero sorts? I mean I know you, and Peter and Thor. But the average citizen doesn't. Don't get me wrong the Accords are bullshit, but something has to be done."
Daisy's frown deepened. "We need to be relatable." She ran a hand through her hair. "And accountable."
"You my badass hacker haven't left any bodies in your cross continent hunt for international crime. But you should probably funnel some cash into the rebuilding projects. Accountability hun." Darcy pulled a fist sized piece of...something sciency and slapped it in front of Daisy. "Alright I need you to try and crack that with your powers."
She raised a brow while picking it up. "So just...channel vibrations into it?"
"Till it cracks please." Darcy pushed her safety goggles up. "I've got a sensor built in that should tell me how much it takes to break. Just no shattering."
Daisy shrugged, and then started to vibrate the thing. "So you're saying I should steal money and donate it to rebuilding efforts for the property damage I've caused?"
"It'll do more good than torturing Stark's PR department. Though keep it up with legal. If he can slow the legislation, maybe something not completely horrific will probably make it through and make the Accords obsolete."
Daisy nodded, not being SHIELD meant channeling money from criminals into charity was far easier. And less judgement. "What government oversight do you think we should have?"
"They shouldn't be able to cross borders willy nilly." Darcy slurped from her slushy while pulling up readouts on her junky old laptop. "Some sort of definition of a good samaritan laws. A sort of board who investigate whether actions taken in the public interest are legal or not. It would have to be non-partisan, not connected to the military in any way. Could be a terrible idea but might work. Just a way to separate people who are trying to help from those doing harm really. It's going to be messy though."
She hummed as she forced more and more power into the device in her hand. "No registration."
"No, definitely something to deal with the collateral damage though. Maybe an agreement of priorities and values and willingness to comply to some loose standards for you vigilante and hero sorts to sign? More oversight in labs working on highly dangerous projects. But again it would have to be carefully worded so that it doesn't hamper you idiots too much or turn into a witch hunt." Darcy leaned forward. "Hold that amount of force right there!"
Daisy winced, but held it. It made her fractures ache, but it wasn't breaking anything further. And then there was a metal crack. She cut off the vibrations and held it back out towards her sister. "Did you get what you needed?"
"I did! We're off to a great start." Darcy snagged the device back. "I know I don't have the equipment or budget to recreate your gauntlets. But I can help earthquake proof buildings and give it a year and better funding and I might make something better than those gauntlets of yours. In the meantime, Peter and I fixed something for you."
Daisy looked up. "What? Did one of the suits get damaged when you were stress testing them?"
"Nope." Darcy reached under the couch and pulled out a familiar case and dropped it across Daisy's lap. "We fixed 'em for you. No roughshod shitty protection anymore."
Her hands shook slightly as she opened the case and looked at her gauntlets. They weren't damaged from the gps being ripped out. In fact they were shiny and looked like new. No more fractures and breaks despite wearing them. It was… they'd fixed them for her. Her voice was thick and wet. "Thank you."
"Totes dude. It's what family does." Darcy side hugged her, unaware of the deep pain that caused. But good. The type of good pain that seared and throbbed but also healed.
////
Peter watched with some trepidation as Aunt May shot with a sort of...disturbing dedication. She was a machine following Daisy's instructions. Darcy meanwhile was looking at her handgun with deep distrust. He cleared his throat. "So uh...do I get to try?"
"No." Aunt May loaded a new clip into her handgun. "Not till you're eighteen." She eyed the target. "Should I try dropping my shoulders some?"
Daisy stepped forward checking May's stance. "No, but keep your aim after you fire. It's all about the follow through. And see there, good you're bracing too much, stay loose."
"I like tasers." Darcy whined. "Do I have to learn how to use a gun? I mean I'm kinda against the whole gun thing? Down with the NRA, yay to gun control."
Daisy grabbed Darcy's shoulder and dragged her over and started guiding her into a shooting stance. "I agree with you, but high chance of Hydra or AIM or terrorists or evil military goons coming for you cause we're Stark's kids and because of the hero thing. So you're going to learn to shoot."
"The things we do to avoid jack booted thugs." Darcy raised her gun and fired.
Peter whistled. Well that was terrifying, the women of his family were scary. Like really awesome, but so scary. "I'm gonna go...jump though some shipping crates."
Peter chewed on the eraser of his pencil. "Girls are so weird."
"Well they're girls." Ned replied with a shrug. "But your sisters seem cool. For girls ya know."
He hummed. "It's just...girls are scary man. I mean how do douches survive mistreating them? That should be the end of them. Aunt May and Darcy joined this gun range. And Daisy signed us all up for self defence classes. I'm the only boy in there. Which is normal apparently?"
"I don't know." Ned looked up at her. "You're taking self defence classes?"
He nodded. "Yeah, well I mean Daisy has been teaching me. But she's got to go for work and didn't want to leave it all."
"Any moves you can show me?" Ned asked excitedly.
Peter perked up. "Totes! And did you know the water benders in Avatar are based off tai chi? So like I'm learning how to be a water bender. We should dress up as water tribe for halloween."
"I thought I was gonna be Thor and you were going to go as Ironman?" Ned's face scrunched up in confusion.
He shook his head. "I don't know I'm feeling a bit like not being him this year. Just with everything and the weapons development ya know?"
"I guess?" Ned hummed. "I mean Avatar costumes sound cool too."
Peter bumped their shoulders together. "Sorry I haven't had a lot of time for you recently."
"You've had a lot of family drama. And I mean Daisy took us to that R rated film last weekend so it's not like you've been ditching me. Your sisters are pretty awesome."
Peter beamed. "They really are! And Darcy says we can help with her project this weekend. She needs someone to like whack it with sledgehammers as a stress test!"
"I'm so in." Ned bounced slightly. "That is so much better than just doing homework at home and playing video games!"
Peter was going to be so grounded. He'd said he was just picking up some eggs, but then he'd heard the sirens and well it was an apartment fire and getting people out was important! It was still hero-ing, but without Daisy as backup and past his new curfew though. He landed against the side of a building and looked at the person who'd pulled his attention from his moping. That was a lady who was stumbling.
She was really drunk, and no one was walking with her. Oh a few other pedestrians had noticed her but she shouldn't be out there on her own. He dropped down onto the sidewalk in front of her. "Hi."
The woman let out a yelp. "Wha?"
"I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, and I just thought you looked like you could use some help." He tried to be as cheerful as possible. "Do you have anyone you can call? Or like an Uber app?"
She blinked. "Betty. And my apartment is like four blocks from here." She waved her arm to the side, but it over balanced her.
Peter reached out catching her shoulder. "Hey, you're ok. So uh can I walk you home or something?"
"Gonna seduce me Casanova?" She giggled high, her whole body shaking with it.
He blanched. "No, that is not what I'm doing. Nope. Not a creep. Just can I help? Please?"
Betty slapped at his shoulder. "You're so squishy!"
"Oh no...you are very drunk." He flapped his arms. What was he supposed to do?!
"Yup!" She unrepentantly hiccuped. Betty smiled at him. "You gonna walk me home handsome?"
Thank god for masks because he had to be gaping and blushing. His face felt hot. "Yes, yes that's what I'm going to do. Where do you live? We should go there."
Peter was going to combust. Touchy feely drunk was how he was gonna go. Four blocks of giggles, one break for puking, his butt got touched...too much, a lot of nonsense from Betty, but he'd gotten her to her apartment. It was an exhausting and fairly traumatizing forty minutes. He sighed in relief as the door of her building closed behind her.
"Fun night."
He yelped, jumping and spinning around. "Daisy?!"
"You thought missing curfew by two hours wasn't gonna be noticed?" She cocked her head to the side with the slightest of smug smirks.
Peter lunged forward hugging her. "Oh thank god. I didn't know what to do and she just.. I'm not ready for that."
"Handsy drunk girls too much for the epic Spiderman?" Daisy teased lightly, her hands stuffed into her pockets.
He hung his head. "I didn't know what to do…"
"Come on Spiderkid, up up and away." She stepped forward, slinging an arm around his shoulders.
Peter shot a web up and sent them flying up onto the roof. They both rolled to their feet separately. He turned. "So am I in a ton of trouble?"
"No, I'm proud of you. You did good today." Daisy elbowed him fondly. "That fire would have killed people if you hadn't been there. And that woman would be sleeping it off in an alley if she was lucky. It was awkward, kinda gross, and uncomfortable for you but you still finished what you set out to do. I'm proud of you. Although if a girl is that handsy with you, you can just web her hands and cart her home like a sack of potatoes."
"Oh." He blinked, and then pulled his mask and goggles off, staring at her in surprise. "I just thought... "
Daisy laughed. "You did good. Nights like this? They're what being a hero is. A real one. It's doing what needs to be done even if it's not glamorous or high stakes, just necessary. This way of life is weirdly boring a lot of the time."
He smiled. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." She kicked at the roof slightly. "You owe me an extra mile and hour of thai chi tomorrow though."
Peter winced, but it was better than he was expecting. "Ok, but like you can teach me how to shoot on the sly right? Like all of you are doing it except for me."
"Nope." Daisy slung her arm around his shoulders and fluffed up his hair with her other hand. "I will get you your very own tranq gun for your eighteenth birthday." She snickered at his half hearted protests. "So I was thinking, if I set you up a secure account and untraceable phone, how'd you feel about Spiderman snapchat?"
He looked at her in disbelief. "But what about my secret identity?"
"We'd have to make a protocol for it, but you're doing good with all the spy bug out codes and stuff. But some good PR couldn't hurt, especially if we don't want anyone thinking you're a threat." Her face was oddly serious. "And let people take selfies with you if they ask. You're a good kid. People liking you is...it'll help keep you safe."
Peter looked at her in disbelief. "Darcy's idea?"
"Darcy's idea." Daisy agreed. "Now come on and swing us home bug boy."
Chapter 5: Alcohol is Bad KidsNotes:Hey! And as some of you have noticed I've added some tags...yay for rare pairs I guess. You know this is the peril of being a multi-shipper without any real ships in a fandom. This shit just happens.
Chapter TextDarcy stared at the computer program her sister had created. "Ok I'm only like 30% sure what this even is...at best. Properly understand maybe 10%. How...sweet Thor."
"Engineering is your thing, hacking is mine. I mean you're making a shock absorber more effective than vibranium. It's pretty cool." Daisy grinned.
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. But if I need a fake id again you're making it. Also you got some trojans I can unleash on my enemies?"
"Enemies?" Daisy turned to face her fully, laughter in her voice.
Daisy nodded solemnly. "You know, dudes who friend me on facebook for the girls." She looked down at her chest. "Not that the girls aren't awe worthy, but some creeps deserve a lesson."
"I can do that." Daisy leaned back before falling serious. "You're pretty neat. I'm sorry it's not safe to spend more time getting to know you."
"Eh, you better skype in for movie night every weak." Darcy brushed off. "And visit, you know the kid's going to run into bad guys who are actually bad news at least three times a year."
Daisy snorted. "Fair enough." She tilted her head to one side. "So what do you need me to break for you today?"
"This." Darcy reached under the table and picked up her proto-type, version 6. She dropped the hodgepodge machine on the table. "This piece of crap should theoretically absorb up to a richter 2.6 earthquake. If I had better tools and materials I could theoretically make it absorb up to a 5.3 with the current design. It's kinda fucking cool as shit." She plugged in the extension cord.
Daisy raised a brow while standing up. "Uh...that's a lot of exposed wires?"
"This baby is unfinished. No point covering wires until I know it works right." Darcy pulled her hair back into a scrunchy. "Grab my laptop sis."
Daisy made a noise of some protest, but she did pick up the ancient laptop up from under the couch. Opening the sucker up, Daisy plugged it in while moving past the login screen despite not knowing the password.
Darcy picked up her pressure gage and hooked it up to the prototype. "If you feel your bones hurting you stop."
"Yeah, yeah." Daisy waved off.
She connected the wires between her laptop and prototype. "This is gonna be rad." Darcy hissed as there was some sparking. Sticking several of her fingers into her mouth she nodded. "Alright, just like… slap your hands down on top and start slow."
Daisy looked dubious, but she carefully set her hands on top of the prototype.
Darcy felt like whooping as she saw the numbers on her screen. "It's working!" She bit her lip looking at the readings on her screen. "Have I mentioned how dope ass your powers are?"
"You hadn't." Daisy's voice was tight.
Her eyes were sharp as she looked up at her sister. Not pain, just concentration. Darcy went back to the readouts. "Ok, increase your output just a little. And your powers are rad."
"Should there be smoke?" Daisy's tight voice pitched up.
Darcy ignored the alarm. "Ok just a little more. We're almost there."
"It's sparking!" Daisy's voice was straight up alarmed.
She hissed. "A little more!"
Daisy let out a yelp. And then Darcy wheezed as she was tackled.
They rolled over the couch, hitting the ground with a painful thud. Darcy glared at her sister. "What the sweet Th-"
And then her prototype exploded.
"Well that's not good." Darcy popped up from behind the couch and cringed. "Shitnuggets!" She lunged into the kitchen corner, diving under the counter to haul out the fire extinguisher. Fumbling with the trigger she spun and started hosing down the wreckage of her poor prototype.
Darcy nearly lost her head as Daisy's jacket went whipping through the air. Daisy was whacking at the flames licking one of the couch cushions.
"So…" Darcy looked around at the metal shrapnel embedded throughout her shit hole apartment. "Good call on the tackling."
Daisy snorted, and then burst out laughing.
She blew some loose hair out of her face. Which is of course when the fire alarm went off. Darcy couldn't help it, she joined in laughing then. "Oh Thor I'm turning into Jane." She gasped out between laughs.
"So that's how I tased Thor." Darcy explained while ripping a piece of shrapnel out of the counter with her bent pliers. She grunted and then jerked suddenly as it came free.
Daisy laughed as she kept typing from where she was attempting to recover the memory from the still smoking wreck of Darcy's laptop. "Since you were in New Mexico does that mean you met Sif? I've met her twice now and she's super badass."
"I did! Sif and the Warriors Three are like the big dude's besties. Though why it's not the Warriors Four is some sexist bullshit. Like Sif is part of their little viking gang." Darcy moved onto the next piece of shrapnel. "But Thor is even yummier in person than he is on tv."
Daisy kept typing. "Yeah Sif was super hot. Totally drool worthy, I was shot and stuck in medbay for like the whole mission. Bullets just bounced off of her."
"And this is why you're wearing the new bullet proof suit we made for you. It may be mostly depressingly black, but the touches of yellow really make it a look." Darcy pointed the pliers at Daisy. "No getting bullets pulled out of you."
"I'll wear the suit." Daisy huffed. "But how are Asguardians just, so hot?"
Darcy grinned. "If I wasn't such a good bro to Jane I would have done more than lightly grope the big guy's arms."
"Hey next time you see the big guy touch the biceps for me. For science." Daisy leaned back. "And I got what I could but I think this thing has given up its ghost."
Darcy clasped her hands together in a mocking attempt at prayer. "May his soul rest in peace."
"I'll clean up and mail you the next laptop I find while knocking in mobster nards." Daisy offered while standing up and grabbing the slightly more bent pair of pliers and heading for the table. "I did not realize your shock absorber could even explode."
She stuck her tongue out. " Sorry, I cheated out on the casing to get better springs and when it heated up due to the current the casing weakened faster than the springs, and well... boom"
"Boom." Daisy grabbed a bit of shrapnel and started wiggling it out of the table. "On the plus side that couch is shockingly sturdy. You can't even really tell it got blown up."
Darcy gave the formerly green relic a look. "The burn marks compliment the pizza stains."
"Undoubtedly." Daisy agreed, silent humor filling her face.
"Oh don't give me that look. Your fate is still in my hands, or do you want to head back to the Parker abode wearing that?" Darcy gave the slightly singed looking shirt on her sister a pointed look.
Daisy held up her hands in surrender. "No judging the couch in exchange for a clean flannel shirt Boss."
"And don't you forget it. I get big sister rights. Even if you are the rebellious middle child." Darcy puffed up with a smug smirk. It was good to have someone who didn't mind explosions, her crappy apartment, Asguardians, and appreciated flannel. "Now as the cool older sister, wanna run by why your appreciation of the Asguardian form sounded forced?"
Daisy blinked, and then her shoulders slumped slightly. "That obvious?"
"The fact that in the time we've known each other, brief though it may be, you've never so much as looked at a hot person, let alone mentioned one. It was a bit of a clue." Darcy yanked another piece of shrapnel free. "So want to talk about it?"
Daisy opened her mouth, head starting to shake only to pause and then she shrugged. "You know what, why the hell not. How much paint thinner pretending to be vodka do you have?"
"So much dude." Darcy hopped off the counter. "I could use it to deal with the fact that was my graduation project. Goodbye early graduation."
Daisy pulled a piece of shrapnel free and set her pliers down. "So...there's lawn chairs on the roof right?"
"Grab the fuzzy blankets and I'll get the booze sister."
////
May Parker was reading her new romance novel when she heard a thud against the door of the apartment. She set her book aside and picked up her new taser. Slowly she pulled her throw off of her legs and approached the door.
Which is when she heard the obnoxious drunk giggles. May groaned and marched the rest of the way to the door. She opened and raised a brow while looking down at the two brunettes that'd just spilled into her entryway. "Evening girls "
Daisy blinked up, her eyes red rimmed but she looked so much lighter. Clutched to her chest was a bottle of bubblegum flavored vodka. The girl opened her mouth and then started giggling into Darcy's shoulder.
Darcy on the other hand was suspiciously grease stained and some of her hair looked rather charred. The girls burst into peals of laughter. They looked ridiculous. Darcy seemed to realize May had spoken first. Her voice came out in the loudest whisper known to man. "May! It's girls night!"
"Is it now?" She asked dryly.
Darcy nodded, her cheek pressed against Daisy's forehead. "Yup. Daisy's boyfriend died saving the planet from alien mind control drugs and my graduation exploded. So girls night! Drown our sorrows." She hiccups. "But then we realized you're one of the girls too!"
May waited and realized nothing else was coming. She leaned down and grabbed under Darcy's armpits and hauled the drunk co-ed to her wobbly feet. "Come on, let's get you to bed and some water."
"You're the best." Darcy slurred while slumping most of her weight on May.
Daisy raised a hand from the floor. "I told you she was the bestest!" She then sprang to her feet, swayed, and then hugged the door jam. Her face smooshing against the molding, dumb smile on her face. "Ninja."
"Shut the door behind you." May instructed while dragging the drunker of the two girls to her own room. She was tired, and sticking the two drunk kids in her bed and taking the couch herself was sounding easiest.
It was a bit like corralling a noodly sack of flour that kept insisting on giggling. May smiled as Darcy petted at her hair. She gently pushed Darcy onto the bed. Picking up the water glass on the bedside table, she pressed it into Darcy's hands. "Drink that." She waited till Darcy was obediently drinking before heading back into the rest of the apartment.
May snagged the vodka Daisy was drinking straight from the bottle. She dropped the whole thing into the sink. Picking up a clean glass she filled it with water. Stepping back to Daisy she put the glass of water into her hand. "Drink up."
"Thanks." Daisy's voice was slightly slurred, but surprisingly pulled together for how horrifically drunk she had to be. But she threw the water back, guzzling it in one go. She pressed the back of one hand to her mouth, setting the glass down with the other. Her eyes were dark as they looked at May then. "How do you do it? Keep living after Ben died?"
"Oh honey." May stepped forward pulling the girl into her arms. "I'm so sorry. You're far too young to have lost so much."
Daisy's breath hitched and then she was sobbing into May's shoulder.
May ran her fingers through Daisy's hair as she sat on the edge of the bed. The girls were half asleep. Darcy had been reduced to the occasional mumble as she lay there, curled around Daisy as the big spoon. Her nose was mostly buried in her sister's hair. Darcy's occasional snort letting them know she would probably like to not have said hair in her face. May brushed some of Daisy's hair out of Darcy's face.
"You two sleep tight." May stood and moved only to pause in the doorway. She looked at the two girls. All three of the kids looked so different, but there was that certain something that came across as familial. She felt privileged to watch these lost kids coming together. It was messy and they were a little broken, and heroic nutts all of them. But she was pretty sure they were going to be something spectacular someday.
Not tonight though.
////
Peter came skidding into the kitchen while pulling his t-shirt over his head. "Morning!"
"Nooooooooooo…" A hoarse female voice whined from the table.
He blinked. "Darcy?" His eyes tracked to the lump curled protectively around a mug of coffee. "Daisy? Are you guys ok?"
"Oh they're just hungover." May announced cheerfully. At the sound of her voice both of his sisters cringed. She licked her thumb, and rubbed something off of his cheek. "And this is why drinking too much is a bad idea. You'll end up puking at two am and looking like your sisters."
Peter burst out with a short shock of laughter. "Uh…"
"Thanks for the lesson in responsible drinking ladies." May chirped, her eyes twinkling as she set Peter's lunch on the counter.
He grinned while filling a bowl with cereal and dumping milk over it. It was hilarious as Darcy and Daisy both twitched every time his spoon hit the sides of the bowl.
Daisy hissed, shooting him a truly deadly glare. "Do you have to slurp that loud?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. This is how I eat." He positively smug.
Darcy chucked a wadded up napkin at his head. "Shut your smart mouth."
"Nope." He popped the 'p' with as much prejudice as he could.
May laughed. "Finish up your breakfast before you're late for the bus young man. And I expect you home from Spiderman duties by seven so you have time to do your homework."
Peter landed on the roof next to Daisy. "Sup!"
"Alien blood, hangovers pass faster for me than for humans." Daisy swept his legs, knocking him flat. "You're still a brat though."
He grinned, pulling his mask off and sitting up. "So is hero-ing usually this…"
"Boring?" Daisy grinned. "Yeah, it's a lot of hurry up and wait. And you little bro are dealing with local petty crime. There's a lot less petty crime requiring heroes than people think. I mean my kicking down doors and kicking mob/gang butts is cause I chase them down. They don't just sit around waiting for you."
Peter accepted the bottle of water from her. "So what..I babysit the neighborhood?"
"Yeah you babysit the neighborhood. And when I get back from putting down the Watchdogs we can root out some of the entrenched criminals here." Daisy tossed him a granola bar.
He blinked, and then his whole face lit up. "You're coming back?!"
"First I'm hitting up LA. If I'm right I'm needed there. But yeah, I'll come back." Daisy reached out and ruffled his hair. "SHIELD is my family, but I think you guys might be too. And if you're going to do the hero thing you're going to need me."
Peter cheered, raising his fist in the air. "YES!"
"I expect you to help old ladies with their groceries, walk people across streets, help with fender benders, get people to the hospital, the small potatoes. Get practice in. Learn navigating around the city with your webs, keep up your training. I'm sure Darcy would be happy to shoot paintballs at you." Daisy poked his nose. "Stay safe, keep learning. I'll let you hit up the big leagues when you're out of high school. Till then small potatoes or with me. Got it?"
"Got it!" He lunged forward hugging her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."
She hugged him right back.
Peter pulled back. "Does this mean you're going to show me how to shoot one of your dendrotoxin guns?"
"Don't push your luck." She cuffed him playfully. "Now, I do believe Ms Sanchez needs help taking her garbage out."
Peter was too excited to even pout. "Got it!"
Chapter 6: Pepper Potts and the Worst RescueNotes:Hey guys! Thank you for all the great comments and everything! They really mean a lot.
Ok you'll probably notice there's been a bit of a time jump between this chapter and the last. Just assume Daisy went back to LA for like a month and dealt with the whole Ghost Rider plot from s4. Because retroactively the Agents of SHIELD timeline sucks oh my god. Like the time between s4 to the end of s5 is three months...maybe four. Which is apparently supposed to be the difference in time between Civil War and Thanos invading which is....no. That does not work. So the timeline is fucked and I'm making it make some sense.
Chapter TextPepper Potts was sadly used to being kidnapped. In fact it happened so often she had three panic button/GPS tags on her person at all times. At the charity auction she'd been attending they'd respectively been her watch, phone and the heel of her stiletto. Unfortunately the entire kidnapping had gone a bit like this.
She'd been happily bidding on a high schoolers painting, really the kid was talented and it was a joy to fund the local schools of the city. Which is when the twenty armed and masked individuals came crashing in. The crashing was not indicative of their skill level unfortunately.
First they'd secured the room. Phones and jewelry removed first thing. The risk wasn't worth it. But she'd still had her shoes. And then Spiderman came swinging in and chaos had broken out. At least this part was familiar.
A surprisingly fresh smelling thug grabbed her, and dragged her from the room threatening to shoot anyone who tried to stop him. Spiderman was busy preventing the criminals, clearly former military. Or possibly current military based off of gear and tactics. What was her life that she could spot these things?
Fresh smelling goon had an arm hooked around her waist as he hauled her out of the gym and into the alley behind the school. There was a waiting van.
Pepper tried to break free but his arm hold was like iron. She screamed for help, failed to snap her stiletto heel, and was tossed into the back of the van. Two goons were instantly on her and she was cuffed and gagged in short order. One of them had the bright idea to cuff her ankles.
"Is that necessary?" Fresh smelling goon asked as he shut the van door, the van squealing off.
Goon 2 grabbed her shoes and chucked them out the window. "I've been stabbed in the shin by a stiletto before and I can tell you this is necessary. Also we don't want her running if Spiderman catches up."
"Why is he even here!? We're not in Queens!" Goon three bitched from the driver's seat.
Fresh smelling Goon 1 grabbed an AK-63 and half growled at his comrades. "Shut up and drive. If Spiderman is here that means Quake isn't far behind and we are not being paid enough to deal with that bitch."
Pepper hadn't met or dealt with the two heroes who'd taken unofficial charge of Queens and most of Brooklyn. But she was suddenly really hoping her kidnapper was right and one of them was coming for her. She jerked as something crashed onto the roof of the van. The van's roof literally dented inwards.
Fresh smelling Goon aimed up and started firing through the roof.
The drivers side window shattered inwards, an arm with shiny metal gauntlets reached in and dragged the goon driving the van out the window. His feet and fading scream the last they saw of him.
"Fuck!" Fresh smelling goon changed his aim for the front of the van as the side door was ripped open and he was sent flying into the opposite side. He collided hard with the side of the van. There was a crunching sound as he hit and then slid down motionlessly.
And there in the van's open door, one hand hanging onto the roof, wind blowing her short dark hair was Quake. Her black on yellow suit, face mask and gauntlets against the lights of the city at night struck an intimidating figure. The vigilante barely flicked her wrist sending the last goon present ricocheting out of the way. And then she grabbed Pepper, slinging her over her shoulder, and jumped out of the still moving van.
Pepper screamed into her gag.
Quake landed in the middle of the road. And stood resolute as more cars bristling with goons with guns squealed to a stop in front of them. The woman set her shoulders.
Spiderman landed in a three point hero's pose besides Quake. "No one gets the friendly neighborhood aesthetic. I mean military weapons do not a friendly neighborhood make."
"Their target is Potts. Get her out of here, I'll handle the goon squad." Quake's voice had the same candance as Tony's when he knew he was about to verbally take someone he didn't like apart.
Spiderman let out a petulant groan. "Fine, but I get to fight the overcompensating gangsters next time." He hopped, scooping Pepper off Quake's shoulder and then they were both zipping straight up as he hollered "toodles!"
Pepper had a new appreciation for Tony's rescues as Spiderman slung them like a drunk ping pong ball through the city. The swooping, jerking and stomach turning descents were nauseating. Also being carted around in a fireman's carry was humiliating. Better than kidnapping, but she hadn't wanted to ever get this up and personal with Quake or Spiderman's butts. Also she couldn't see anything!
"Don't worry Ms Potts! You're going to be A-ok!" Spiderman chirped pleasantly as they ricocheted somewhere.
Pepper screamed into the gag, again. It was partially the horrifying method of travel, partially the shock from the last fifteen minutes, and mostly because she knew what a middle school boy's voice sounded like. Which meant she was being slung between buildings by a kid who couldn't be older than fifteen if she was being generous.
They went flying through an open window. Spiderman slid to a jarring halt, and then unslung her from his shoulder leaving her back on her feet for the first time since the whole mess had begun. "There ya go."
"What the fuck!" A female voice screeched.
Pepper's eyes widened as a young woman, her hair messily piled on her head, leapt to her feet from the saggy couch. Actually now that she had two seconds to take in her surroundings she realized she was in what had to be a college student's apartment. The cup noodle cups, poptart wrappers, empty energy drink cans, second-hand furniture, and the fact it was a tiny studio apartment rather gave it away.
Spiderman cringed from the angry co-ed. "Hey Darcy."
"Don't you 'Hey Darcy' me!" The newly discovered Darcy shoved past Spiderman and with surprisingly gentle fingers pulled the gag out of Pepper's mouth and then flung it to the side. She then pulled a Bobby pin out of her hair and had picked the handcuff lock in under thirty seconds. Dropping to one knee she repeated the process with the second pair of cuffs before straightening while returning the Bobby pin to her hair. "I am so sorry lady. Are you ok?"
Pepper felt rather green actually. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Get the bucket!" Darcy ordered in alarm.
Spiderman half tripped over himself grabbing a mixing bowl out of the cupboard and shoving it into Pepper's hands.
Pepper was promptly sick. She felt hands pulling her hair out of the way, and someone was rubbing soft circles on her back.
Someone disappeared along with the bowl, and then she was being shepherded to the kitchen sink, a glass of water being pressed into her hand.
Pepper rinsed her mouth out, spitting into the sink. She let out a sigh before taking an actual drink of the water. The slight tang of tap water wasn't exactly pleasant, but cold water was definitely a relief all the same. Straightening once she was as put together as she was going to get, she turned around.
The small apartment now that she was looking past the various bits of clothing laying over the back of chairs and poor dietary choices, was what she recognized as half engineering lab, half college living space. The bits and pieces of machinery everywhere fit with the general feel of the place. There were large technical textbooks and papers hap-hazardly laying around as well. A suspiciously dented looking fire extinguisher laying on the floor by the side of the couch only cause of some minor alarm.
Pepper looked between Darcy, the pretty co-ed and Spiderman who was actually hanging from the ceiling. "Thank you for the rescue. Do you think I could borrow a phone?"
"Kid...that is Pepper Potts." Darcy seemed to finally recognize her. She then turned and slapped Spiderman's shoulder.
Spiderman yelped, voice cracking slightly, and then dropped to the floor. "Da..Quake said to get her out. And what if more bad guys with guns were waiting at the Tower?"
"So you brought her to my apartment!?" Darcy wheeled on Spiderman, completely ignoring Pepper now. "Did you miss the basics of keeping a secret identity?! Your aunt is going to kill me! Quake is going to kill you! I mean running around like a maniac in bulletproof pajamas is one thing but you bought Pepper Potts into my apartment!? Do you think she won't be able to track down who I am from that and from me to you!?"
Spiderman seemed to physically wince. "But she's practically our ste….well you know?"
"No she's not! And we agreed no contact with Tony! Bringing his girlfriend to my apartment is not no contact!" Darcy's arms waived. "Dear Thor this is not good."
Pepper cleared her throat. She was going to ignore any and all subtext till she'd had time to sleep and process her night. "I'm assuming you run tech for Spiderman here Ms Darcy?"
"I make-" Spiderman started.
Darcy whacked him in the gut. "Yes?" She plastered on a fake smile. "Yes, Darcy. Mechanical and snack related support to Spiderlad."
"Spiderman!" The kid protested, but in more of a token attempt than anything else.
Pepper's lips twitched. This was actually explaining a lot of the confusing media attention around New York's new heroes. "I understand your need to keep secret identities. But I would also like to go home and prevent Tony from doing something stupid. So, any options you'd feel comfortable with that don't involve me being swung out of here like a sack of potatoes?"
"Swear on Stark's sparkly ass to not make me move out of my shitty apartment to escape the paps and we'll call you an uber." Darcy offered.
Her years with Tony made her response automatic. "I swear on his sparkly ass not to sell you out to the media."
"Excellent." Darcy's face pulled up into a victorious grin, all casual and familiar confidence. "So you ok with uber? I'll make the kid walk you to the curb and everything."
Pepper smiled, god they were kids. No wonder they avoided the big dramatic villains and just dealt with local petty things and helped locals with groceries. Spiderman was a teen or preteen. Darcy couldn't be a day older than twenty five and she hadn't gotten a good look at her, but she'd bet anything Quake was young as well. "I'm fine with an uber."
Spiderman's head snapped to the window, and then Quake came hurtling through the window landing with a heavy thud, everything not attached to walls rattling. Quake looked up and took in the situation. "We've got a problem."
"No we don't." Spiderman said holding up his hands and waving them. "We're just going to call Ms Potts an Uber."
Quake's voice was serious, she was issuing orders. "No we're not." She looked straight to Darcy. "We're bugging out. Grab the bags and get to the van. Take Potts and head for the airport." She turned to Spiderman. "Call Aunt May tell her it's a White situation. Then drop the blue flashdrive with Stark before meeting us at the airport."
"Oh Thor...they're never letting me back on the debate team." Spiderman grumbled before swinging out of the window.
Pepper turned in alarm as Darcy dragged a dufflebag out from under the bed and started shoving various electronic bits and pieces into it. "Wait a minute!"
"I'm really sorry about all this, but I'll explain later." Quake grabbed a box from under the sink and started mixing chemicals that very much should not be mixed. The woman dumped the horrifying concoction on the counter. "Short version is AIM. If you want to get out of the city alive help Darcy with the bags."
Pepper nodded and grabbed a pair of shoes by the door and started lacing them up. She was going to need to be able to run. Whether it was with the baby superheroes or away from them she wasn't entirely sure.
Quake grabbed a shoebox out of a cupboard and pulled out a handgun. "I need to go and grab the paperwork." She passed the gun to Darcy. "Someone tries to stop you, shoot them."
"Aye aye." Darcy accepted the gun, her nose wrinkling up. "I don't deserve my life being this weird." She grabbed Pepper's arm and hauled them out of the studio.
Pepper stumbled in the slightly too large convers, hanging onto the duffle bag that'd just been shoved into her arms. "Why are you taking me with you?"
"Code White means the Avengers are assembled." Darcy replied matter of factly. "Not as crazy balls as code Purplenurbles, but I'm mostly sure we were just drunk when we came up with code Purplenurbles."
Pepper's jaw tightened. She followed the surprisingly task oriented co-ed. They jogged at a slightly panicked clip down the stairs and out a side door into an alley.
"This way." Darcy led her down the alley, past dumpsters that smelled pretty putrid.
Pepper spotted a giant wasp the size of a volkswagen flying overhead. Nope, she was throwing her lot in with team co-ed.
They took a turn into a narrower alley. And then Darcy unlocked the single skiviest van Pepper had ever beheld. "Right, hop in, stay in the back."
"Do I want to know?" Pepper asked while opening the back door of the van and freezing. It was full of weapons and computer screens mounted on the inner walls of the van. She grit her teeth and climbed in.
Darcy started up the van. "Quake lived in this thing before we met if you can believe it. I mean housing options for former SHIELD specialists with Inhuman abilities are hard to find. Something about the crazies trying to kill you. At least it doesn't smell."
"How on god's green earth is she old enough to be former SHIELD?" Pepper pointedly didn't touch the gun chest as the van squealed out of the alley.
Darcy snorted. "Teenage cyber terrorist. SHIELD black bagged and then recruited her when she was seventeen. Then four years of service. Apparently SHIELD follows military rules that you can recruit at seventeen with parental permission. Not that Quake had that, but details."
"Well that's horrifying," Pepper uttered. She settled as safely as possible on the tiny cot in the back. "What's the plan once we get to the airport?"
"Oh we're not going to the airport." Darcy replied glibly. "Quake's super paranoid and the spider kid gets way too into the secret agent code mumbojumbo. We are actually going to a shitty motel till this all blows over."
Pepper blinked, that was actually rather clever. "And by blow over?"
"Spiderman is going to run civilian rescues in Queens till the end of the bullshit and then come crash in the shitty motel with us. Quake is running some quick recon and then is probably going to be taking care of AIM while everyone else deals with what I'm pretending are not giant wasps attacking the city."
Pepper cleared her throat. "So code White?"
"City wide destruction and or invasion that requires Quake and Spiderman to play in the big leagues and us squishy non super powered idiots need to go hide out. Hit the green toggle. It's the one that's melted crayon." Darcy instructed, the van jerking to the left.
She hit the green toggle, that was indeed super waxy.
////
Peter yelped as he almost hit a lamppost. "We're all insects here!"
The giant wasp and it's dozens of tiny brethren didn't seem to agree with him.
-"Technically you're an arachnid not an insect."- Daisy grunted, a burst of gunfire audible on her end of their comms.
He pouted while spraying more webbing into a sloppy attempt at a proper web. It probably didn't catch many of the evil insects, but some was better than none. "It's the thought that counts!"
-"Code names only, I'm connecting us to the Avengers' comms."- Daisy warned, there was a concerning amount of gunfire in the background. There was a crackle, and then new voices were coming through.
-"I don't think they can get bigger than a truck."- A male voice came through before grunting.
Peter swung straight up above the buildings around him. He saw how the wasps that saw him changed direction and started heading for him. "Hey Avengers! Big fan. Bringing the party to your tower."
-"Who is that?"- A strong voice ordered.
He slung himself forward. "Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman!"
-"How'd you get this channel? Actually scratch that, how do you see out of those goggles?"- Tony Stark's distinctive voice asked.
Peter hopped over a roof. "It's an honor Mr Stark, Sir."
-"Not as good to meet you buckaroos. Big fan of the webs. Seems like a good time for webs."- Stark quipped. -"Think you can make a bigger web, trap Swarm in a sticky mess?"-
Peter webbed a cart sized wasp to a wall. "That would require standing still." He yelped.
Daisy's voice came through, and again that was a lot of gunfire on her end. -"Just funnel the murderous wasps. I'm almost done with the AIM agents. If you can get the wasps in a relatively straight line I can turn them into dust."-
-"You expect us to just take orders from strange women with guns now?"- Tony protested. -"I mean I see the appeal, but really?"-
Peter webbed a large wasp and sling shotted it at the passing form of Ironman. "Quake isn't strange! She's supes cool."-
-"Not now!" And Ironman if you want to know how 'skyenet' is turning your firewalls to swiss cheese you'll do it."- The smile in Daisy's voice was audible.
There was an explosion of spluttering. And then the serious voice came through. -"Team, funnel the wasps towards the Tower."-
Peter's web hit his sister's back, and then he launched her up into the path of the very, very angry wasps.
Her arms raised, the very air trembled. And then the swarm of thousands of insects varying in size from thumbnail to small pick up truck turned to dust in a wave of chaos.
He caught her around the waist with one arm on a swing, and landed against the side of a building, holding her up. "Hey you ok? Nothing break? Quake? Come on talk to me?"
"I thought I told you to evac civilians and let the Avengers and I handle the crisis?" She looked at him with a fond smile. "But good job."
Peter blushed under his mask. "Thanks, and I don't know, the wasps just kept swarming me. Not my fault."
The artificial voice of Ironman came from just besides them. "Well you are The Spiderboy? Spiderling?"
"Spiderman." Daisy corrected while throwing an arm around Peter's shoulders so he wasn't hanging onto her so awkwardly.
"Right that." Ironman's face mask pulled up, showing Tony Stark's face. "Good work dusting the bugs. So what's this about you knowing about 'skyenet'?"
Daisy pulled the blue flash drive out of Peter's pocket and tossed it at Tony's face. "Secure channel for you to chat on. Thanks for assisting Spiderman, we're gonna head home now if you don't mind."
"Oh I do mind." Tony caught the drive, looking at them curiously. "So what're you? Like some powered Romeo and Juliet or something?"
Peter couldn't help the "Oh ew!"
Daisy laughed. "Never figured you for a fan of the classics. Does the media know you're a softie under there?"
"No romance jokes, got it." Tony's mustache twitched. But then his voice was serious. "So, want to say where you took Pepper?"
Peter found himself babbling slightly. "Our guy in the chair took her to a safehouse."
"Guy in the chair?" Tony asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, like tech person. You know the guy in the chair. Back end and all that."
"Look how do you feel about letting us hitch a ride to the safe house with you? Cause my van is at the safehouse and taking public transport while in costume sucks." Daisy cocked her head as if she wasn't dangling from the side of a building depending on him to keep her there. "We could pick up pizza?"
////
Darcy munched on a burger while watching the news on the shitty tv in the shitty motel room. "So how do you feel about street tacos?"
"I'd rather not have food poisoning in this establishment." Pepper replied somewhat dryly.
She snickered. "Fair, fair. Gotta say it's nice to meet you. Like you're a Pepper freaking Potts."
"You know it took me a bit, but I've spent a lot of time with Tony." Pepper looked at her, eyes seemingly boring into her soul.
Darcy swallowed. "Oh?"
"You look like him, especially around the cheeks. And that's definitely his chin." Pepper's voice was surprisingly gentle.
She shrugged, her lips pulling up. "What gave it away? Besides the resemblance."
"The kid in the suit almost called me your stepmom. Which would make the three of you siblings. Same mom, different dads?" Pepper asked, the slightest of hopeful tinge to her voice.
Darcy smirked. "Different moms, same dad." She pulled her legs up under her, crossing her legs. "Quake's the one who figured it out. Turns out condoms have failure rates."
"Why not come to him?" Pepper had barely reacted to the news they were all Tony's kids. She had an impressive poker face.
She rolled her eyes. "We didn't need a dad." Darcy paused at the look on Pepper's face. "Fine, look it's complicated. The kid's parents died in a car wreck, finding out his mom had an affair with his personal hero was a bit rough. And Quake's got issues with parents. Foster kid, bio mom tried to murder her when she tracked the woman down. Throw in the whole powers thing and Quake is former SHIELD. It's not like it's going to be smooth going once it all comes out."
"Tony deserves to know he has children. All of you deserve a chance at a relationship." Pepper's voice was soft and sincere.
Darcy sucked at the inside of her cheek. "Technically Tony's going to hire me in a month. I figured the system would flag me as his kid during the health screening process. Which mandatory on site medical screening to ensure your employees health is very cool. Especially since it can't be cause of termination."
"Oh?" Pepper leaned back in the shitty motel chair she was sitting on. She'd taken one look at the mildewy beds, wrinkled her nose, and claimed the chair.
Darcy nodded. "I'm Jane Foster's former intern. Since I'm on track to graduate this month I get the fancy upgrade from intern to official assistant."
"You're Darcy Lewis, Thor's lightning sister." Pepper laughed. "Of course you are."
She snickered herself. "Did you think any of Tony's kids could be boring?"
"How old are all of you? Because I know what a teenage boy's voice sounds like." Pepper smiled.
Darcy bounced on the foot of the bed slightly. "Kid's turning fifteen next month. Quake just turned twenty two, and I'm the oldest at twenty five. Which Thor I feel ancient around them. Look, let them come to Tony when they're ready. The kid might be soon. He really wanted to meet him before he processed the whole affair thing. But Quake…" She shrugged. "Pushing her won't lead to anything good."
"I won't insist on two conditions." Pepper offered.
Darcy's eyes narrowed. "Negotiations, my specialty." She felt positively feral at Pepper's confused expression. "Political Science undergrad degree, getting my doctorate in mechanical engineering this month. Gotta say, I miss the poly sci."
"Politics...a Stark with a degree in Politics." Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose before seemingly shaking herself out of it. "You tell Tony if your siblings haven't come around to telling him themselves by the end of the coming year."
Darcy shook her head. "Not happening. I'll let you have their cell numbers in a year if they haven't told him."
"Six months if I'm only getting phone numbers. And you have to tell Tony he has other kids." Pepper countered.
She cocked her head slightly. "Six months, and I tell Tony I'm not his only kiddo if it's necessary for stupid hero reasons. And if that's not acceptable I sue for a nice trust fund and make a delightful media circus."
"Agreed." Pepper nodded. "Second condition, you and your siblings keep in contact with me and if you need help just ask."
Darcy blinked. "Huh, you're good people Potts."
"And you're going to finish the work Tony's done to turn my hair grey." Pepper sighed. "And you already have a trust fund. I had one formed my second month as Tony's assistant. It was kind of inevitable a kid would turn up eventually."
Darcy snorted. "Yeah, at least if he creates another spawn it'll be on purpose. Which, good job on snagging him. I mean he's dad hot, and a total manwhore. But also a superhero so he's got to have some redeeming qualities."
"I'm taking that as a compliment." Pepper huffed in amusement. Though her eyes stopped on the tv screen. "Oh dear."
Darcy looked over and snorted outright. There was a very dramatic series of photos showing Peter webbing, flinging and then catching Daisy. It was a pretty awesome final destruction of the killer wasps. But what the media was clearly focusing on was the new question. 'Were Spiderman and Quake a Superhero couple?' She lunged for the remote and cranked up the volume. "Oh my Thor this is amazing!"
"Oh dear." Pepper sounded like she knew exactly the level of havoc a pair of embarrassed Stark kids could kick up in the media.
Darcy cackled.
On the screen the station's hero specialist, hack journalist, was pontificating. -"This makes the newly teamed up super pair's behavior make sense. Afterall we all know Quake was a questionable vigilante ever since she appeared on the scene. Property damage, dead criminals, and a wake of destruction behind her. Then she turns up in New York covering our local hero's back. Almost no property damage, no dead criminals. What else but love would explain the personality change?"-
Darcy rolled off the bed from the strength of her cackling.