While the team took a moment to recover from the rather disturbing sight of Eddie and Venom's reactions to the sonic devices, Jarvis's voice suddenly came through the speakers, drawing everyone's attention.
"Mr. Stark, you have a visitor."
"Whoever it is, tell them I'm busy and ask them to send me an email," Tony replied dismissively, barely giving the announcement a second thought.
"You don't read your emails," Clint pointed out, shooting him a look that made it clear he found the suggestion amusingly contradictory.
Tony's response was interrupted when Jarvis spoke again. "Sir, it's Miss Pepper."
That name seemed to get his attention.
I'd been watching Tony long enough to recognize the subtle change in his expression. The casual look he'd been wearing vanished almost immediately, and was replaced by a seriousness that seemed rather out of place for someone who'd been dealing with alien goo and sonic weapons moments earlier. His gaze moved toward the doorway, and he straightened slightly.
"Captain Sparkles, come with me," he instructed, turning in my direction as I raised an eyebrow.
Why?
She sounds like a disciplinarian. Please tell me this lunatic of a guardian hasn't decided to hire me a tutor.
The thought alone was enough to make me mentally groan. I'd barely gotten comfortable with my new life among the Avengers, and the last thing I needed was someone breathing down my neck about homework, attendance, and whatever else ordinary teenagers were apparently expected to worry about.
"Just come with me," Tony insisted, his tone leaving little room for argument. "You might actually save a life today."
'As if I don't already save lives,' I grumbled inwardly. It's not like I wear a cape and fly around for the aesthetic.
Still, curiosity eventually won out over my reluctance. I followed my legal guardian out of the room, wondering what exactly was going on and why Pepper's arrival had suddenly put him on alert.
We made our way through the tower, but instead of heading toward his laboratory or one of the many conference rooms, Tony led me somewhere I hadn't expected.
His bedroom.
Well, calling it a bedroom felt like an insult to the place.
The moment I stepped inside, I found myself slowing down as I took in the sheer amount of space. The room was enormous, with the sort of polished furnishings and comfortable seating that made it look more like a private luxury lounge than somewhere a person merely went to sleep. Everything seemed carefully arranged without looking overly deliberate, and the place had an unmistakably expensive feel to it.
'Wow.'
That was genuinely the first thought that came to mind.
"Sweet," I muttered, unable to hide my appreciation.
This was my first time inside Tony's private quarters, and judging by the sheer size of the place, I was beginning to suspect that being a billionaire came with an entirely different understanding of personal space. Back in my old life, a room this large would've been enough to accommodate an entire foster family, with space left over for everyone to argue about who got which corner.
Tony, meanwhile, seemed completely unfazed by the spectacle.
"Feel free to take it all in, but don't touch anything." He snapped his fingers to reclaim my attention, then motioned for me to follow him farther inside.
I reluctantly pulled my gaze away from the room's impressive furnishings and continued after him, still sneaking glances at my surroundings. However, it wasn't the expensive decor that finally caught my attention.
It was the woman sitting in the lounge.
She was settled comfortably on one of the seats, holding a chilled glass of lemonade and sipping it through a straw as though she had all the time in the world. Her posture was relaxed, her movements were unhurried, and she seemed entirely at ease in Tony's private quarters.
For some reason, that made me more curious than anything else I'd seen so far.
I glanced at Tony, then back at the woman, wondering what kind of person could walk into this tower, make herself comfortable in Iron Man's bedroom, and casually drink lemonade without appearing the slightest bit concerned about it.
Okay, who exactly is she?
"This is Pepper," Tony introduced the woman, offering absolutely no further explanation about who she was or why she was sitting in his room as though she owned the place.
Before he could continue, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"Not fair, Tony! You've got yourself a personal waitress!"
My words caught both of them off guard. Pepper, who had just taken another sip of her lemonade, suddenly swallowed the wrong way and nearly choked on her drink. Meanwhile, Tony stared at me for a brief moment, apparently struggling to process what I'd just said before he burst into laughter.
Honestly, I couldn't blame him. The woman was sitting there with a chilled glass of lemonade, looking perfectly comfortable in his private lounge. What else was I supposed to think? That she was this playboy's girlfriend or maybe handler?
However, Tony's amusement didn't last very long. The moment he caught sight of the look Pepper was giving him, his laughter abruptly died. He cleared his throat, straightened himself up, and attempted to recover whatever dignity he'd managed to lose.
"As stunning as she looks, she isn't a waitress," he explained, shooting me a disapproving glance. "Why would I have a waitress in my bedroom anyway?"
He seemed to be genuinely questioning my logic, which I found rather amusing considering the circumstances.
Why wouldn't you? You're a billionaire. You probably have people whose entire job is to make sure you never have to lift a finger.
Before I could voice that particular observation, Pepper finally spoke up, seemingly having decided that my earlier remark wasn't worth taking offense over.
"And who's this handsome young hero who's been taking the media by storm lately?"
I glanced at her, momentarily caught off guard by the question. Unlike Tony, she didn't appear interested in correcting my manners or questioning my presence in the tower. Instead, there was some amusement in her expression as she regarded me.
Perhaps it was the divinity I was constantly radiating, softening her attitude toward me without either of us realizing it. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with my powers at all, and this was probably Pepper being Pepper.
Whatever the case, I found her considerably easier to deal with than her billionaire companion.
"This is the kid I told you about," Tony answered, tilting his chin in my direction. He then gestured toward me as though presenting some interesting exhibit at a museum. "Do your thing."
I stared at him.
The kid?
"Kid?" Pepper echoed, her gaze moving between us as she tried to make sense of the conversation.
"What thing?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest. "It's not like I do party tricks, especially not for the entertainment of your guests."
Tony closed his eyes for a moment, and judging by the sigh that escaped him, he was fighting the overwhelming urge to smack his palm against his face. When he opened them again, he seemed to be making a conscious effort to remain patient.
"I meant transform back to your base form."
"Oh." I gave him a casual shrug. "I don't feel like it."
With that, I turned around as though I intended to head back toward the exit, perfectly content to leave him standing there with whatever explanation he'd been planning to give Pepper.
Behind me, I heard Tony's voice rise slightly.
"What do you mean you don't feel like it?"
I couldn't help finding his reaction amusing. Apparently, the idea of me refusing to cooperate just because I didn't feel like it was too much for his billionaire brain to comprehend. He'd probably gotten used to people jumping whenever he snapped his fingers, and now he was discovering that being my legal guardian didn't automatically make him the boss of me.
I offered no answer, merely shrugging again as I continued toward the doorway.
"Besides, you said we were saving a life," I reminded him, glancing back over my shoulder. "I don't see anyone who needs saving. Your guest looks perfectly fine to me."
I paused, allowing my gaze to drift between the two of them before adding, "Unless you're the one she needs saving from."
For a moment, Tony just stared at me.
Then he muttered something that made me grin.
"My love life. Clueless."
Oh, this is interesting.
I turned my attention back to Pepper, then to Tony, taking in the situation with some revivified interest.
So, our world-class player has finally decided to sit back and let himself fall in love, huh?
Now that was something I hadn't expected to witness when I'd agreed to stay with the Avengers. Tony Stark, the man who seemed to treat relationships as casually as he treated his expensive cars, was apparently in a situation where he needed help with his love life.
And he'd brought me here to help him?
I almost laughed.
Man, you really have no idea who you've recruited, do you?
"What's in it for me, then?" I asked with a sly grin, making no attempt to hide my interest in negotiating a favorable deal.
"You…!" Tony cursed under his breath, clearly regretting ever bringing the matter up with me in the first place.
Seeing that he had nothing worthwhile to offer, I shrugged and turned around, deliberately making a show of heading for the exit. I had barely taken a few steps when his voice stopped me.
"Fine! You'll get a nice increase in your monthly allowance," he offered, sounding as though the words physically pained him to say.
Sweet.
I'd originally planned to bargain for a new gaming console, but this was even better. I could always use that request as another bargaining chip the next time an opportunity presented itself. There was no point in exhausting all my options in a single negotiation when I could squeeze more out of him later.
"You've got yourself a deal. Just don't cheap out on me," I replied, pivoting on my heels to face him before turning around again and resuming my journey toward the exit.
"Where are you going?" Tony asked, his brows drawing together in confusion. Pepper, who had been quietly observing our exchange, regarded me with a raised eyebrow of her own.
"Where else? I'm going to change back into my normal form," I explained, as though the answer should have been obvious.
"What's wrong with doing it here?" Tony questioned, looking genuinely puzzled by my insistence on leaving the room. Clearly he could just have Happy take care of the scorch marks left behind by the lightning from my transformation and doesn't mind the expense, one of the best perks of being a billionaire.
"Excuse me, but are you planning to get naked?" Pepper interjected from beside the minibar, where she stood with her drink in hand.
"No, he isn't," Tony answered before I could even open my mouth.
I couldn't blame her for asking, though. With the muscles I was packing, it was only natural that she'd be curious about what I looked like beneath the costume. Not that I intended to give her a glimpse, of course. A man had to maintain some mystery.
"You were the one who warned me against transforming indoors," I reminded Tony, raising an eyebrow at him. "Besides, what if someone happens to be on the floor above us when I change back? They could get struck by lightning."
That seemed to give him pause. Whatever argument he'd been preparing died on his lips as he considered the possibility, and he eventually let out a resigned sigh.
"Fine. Just hurry up."
With that settled, I finally made my way out, leaving the two of them to their drinks.
It took me less than five minutes to return, and in that short time, Tony had apparently decided to join Pepper at the minibar. The drink in her hand had changed to champagne, while Tony seemed content to nurse a glass of whiskey.
"Great, you're back," Tony remarked, setting his glass aside as he calmly rose from his seat and walked toward me.
Meanwhile, Pepper stared at us with an expression that suggested she was still struggling to make sense of something. Judging by the way her gaze shifted between Tony and me, I had a pretty good idea of what was going through her mind.
"As you can see, he looks nothing like me, and he certainly doesn't carry my genes," Tony announced, speaking with the defensive air of a man desperately trying to prove he wasn't the father of someone else's child.
Except, in this particular case, that someone was me.
"Wait, what?" I blurted out, finally processing what he'd been trying to accomplish.
Tony turned toward me, his expression practically begging me to cooperate. "Help me out here, Bill. I'm trying to convince her that you're not my kid."
"Heck no!" I exclaimed without a moment's hesitation.
"Exactly," Tony replied, nodding as though I'd just delivered the perfect argument in his favor.
Then he stopped.
Slowly, he turned his head toward me, his earlier confidence giving way to a look of dawning suspicion.
"Wait a minute…" His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"
"You mean to tell me this boy is the same guy with the lightning bolt on his chest who walked out of here just a few minutes ago?" Pepper asked, sparing me the trouble of having to answer Tony's earlier question.
Tony and I exchanged a brief glance before turning back to her and answering in perfect unison. "Yes."
Pepper stared at us for a moment, seemingly waiting for one of us to crack a smile and admit that we were pulling her leg. When neither of us did, she let out a disbelieving breath and shook her head slightly. "Is this some kind of joke?"
Frankly, I was beginning to wonder the same thing, albeit for an entirely different reason.
"No," Tony replied, his expression growing more serious as he faced Pepper. "I know it might seem that way, but it's the truth. He—"
A deafening roar suddenly erupted from somewhere within the building, cutting him off mid-sentence. The sound was so loud and jarring that it seemed to pierce straight through my eardrums, sending an unpleasant shiver down my spine. It was unlike anything I'd heard in a while, carrying a feral quality that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
What the hell was that?
"What was that?" Pepper asked, her composure slipping as a wave of fear washed over her. She instinctively tightened her grip on her glass, her eyes darting toward the door as though she expected whatever had made that sound to come charging through it at any moment.
"I don't know," Tony answered, his expression taking on a serious look as he tried to identify the source. "My first guess would be Banner going Hulk, but that roar sounded a little too high-pitched. Almost like a shriek. Doesn't really sound like our big green friend."
As if to prove him wrong, another roar thundered through the building, shaking the air around us with its sheer intensity.
Tony paused for a moment before his expression turned into one of recognition. "Okay, that's the big guy. Looks like Banner's gone green after all."
He turned toward me, and I immediately understood what he was asking without him having to say a word. Whatever was happening downstairs, there was a good chance we'd be getting our hands dirty. I gave him a firm nod, letting him know I was ready.
Both roars had been loud enough to reach Tony's room, despite its position high up in the tower, and the doors had done practically nothing to muffle the noise. Whatever was going on, it certainly wasn't a minor disturbance.
Before either of us could make a move, Jarvis's voice rang through the room, his usually composed tone carried an unmistakable note of urgency.
"Warning. The tower is under attack."
Tony immediately turned toward Pepper and gave her a pointed look, silently instructing her to stay where she was. She appeared ready to protest, but whatever she saw in his expression convinced her to hold her tongue. Satisfied that she wouldn't follow us into danger out of curiosity, Tony and I turned on our heels and hurried toward the exit.
"Who's crazy enough to attack Avengers Tower?" I asked, quickening my pace as we headed out. I wanted answers, and I figured Jarvis was the best person to provide them before Tony could ask.
"It is the creature Venom identified as a Xenophage," Jarvis answered promptly. "However, this specimen is approximately twice the size of the one you previously encountered and defeated. The Hulk is currently engaged in combat with it."
Thank goodness. With Thor currently in Asgard, Hulk was the only heavy hitter capable of keeping the Xenophage at bay until I could join the fight.