𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞

31 | Keeping Tabs On You

Y/N and Peter were curled up in bed for about an hour after they woke up, sitting on their phones and showing each other various videos they'd each scroll past. She was resting her head on his chest with his arm around her when they heard a knock.

"Come in!" Peter called out, not caring who was at the door considering it could only really be Tony, Pepper or Happy and he was fully clothed - no risk.

"You guys hungry? There's this amazing little patisserie on the Upper East Side I'm going to head to, you want to come with?" Pepper said walking into the guest room perfectly dressed and effortlessly stylish.

"Uh, yeah give us like five minutes to get dressed," Y/N smiled, always being fond of Pepper throughout her life. She always viewed Pepper as the cool mum she never had, a woman she actually felt comfortable with. Or perhaps an older sister or cool aunt. Groaning as he got out of bed Peter stretched his back by twisting either direction and sighed when it cracked.

"Last might really did a number on me. I feel horrible," he chuckled, his muscles feeling tight and injured.

"That's what happens when you hold the Brooklyn Bridge together with webs connected to your wrists," Y/N laughed, pulling Peter's jacket on that he had given her last night.

"Wow don't act so impressed, I didn't save like a hundred people or anything. Nothing big like saving the day. Just casually held together tonnes of cement and cars and cable all at the same time, not a big deal," Peter joked, leaving the guest room with her to head into the living room.

"Nope. He's grounded," Tony said looking up at Peter from the couch and pointing at him.

"What? You were actually serious about that? It's just breakfast," Peter frowned.

"Let them have their little girly day together then. You my friend, are grounded for almost getting Y/N killed, exposing your identity multiple times and telling complete strangers about my personal life," Tony scowled, sipping coffee from a colourful yet ugly mug.

His mug said 'Best Dad Ever' - Pepper had bought it for him as a snide joke.

He secretly wanted to prove her wrong eventually and become the father Y/N never had. He knew that wasn't a decision for him to make; it was up to Y/N whether or not she wanted to welcome him into her life. He had told Pepper that didn't want to be 'boring' like 'regular dads' though, he wanted to be 'like a cool uncle except she came from my balls'.

"We can still go without him, he can sit in the naughty corner and be glared at by Tony all day," Y/N joked, excited for her little outing with Pepper.

"That just sounds like one of their normal missions to me. Bye boys!" She called out, leaving the house with Y/N and getting in one of the dozens of Stark cars.

"So, completely off the record cos I don't want to get involved but I need to check in with you. First, are you okay after being kidnapped, second are you okay after Tony's news, and third, do you like the pajamas I bought for you for whenever you stay here?" Pepper said smiling to herself and driving.

Y/N smiled. She liked how direct Pepper was yet admired the way she still felt genuine and sincere, not like a robot only concerned with finding out what she needed to know. Working as Tony's assistant could definitely do that to a person, but Pepper dealt with him well.

"Okay, first point, I'm a bit shaken but I heard the guys all talk amongst themselves and they seemed kind of amateur so I wasn't too scared, especially because they told Peter where I was. Second point, I'm kind of shocked but I remember as a kid I kind of wanted Tony to be my Dad secretly even though I grew up hating him. And third point, yes oh my cos they're incredible, I've never slept in silk before," Y/N smiled, answering Peppers questions the same way she had asked them.

They bought almond croissants, ate them through Central Park and casually walked through the city together catching up on the years they had spent apart. Pepper always kept tabs on Y/N on behalf of 'showing respect' to Obadiahs family by sending Christmas cards and birthday cards, but she always wanted to make sure Y/N was doing well in life.

"You know you were the first baby I ever held right? I was like two weeks into the job here at Stark Industries and my first proper job and you were like dumped in my arms at a work event," Pepper grinned, reminiscing on the wild days her and Tony had spent when they were younger.

Pepper had worked for Tony when he took over as co-CEO with Obadiah, him being too young to take over himself - he and Pepper basically grew up together since then.

"You never held a baby before then? Weird... Actually that kind of makes sense because I always thought it was weird my Mum had apparently slept with Obadiah cos he's so much older than all of you guys," she laughed.

"Oh no she still did, she uh, yeah..." Pepper trailed, not wanting to speak negatively about the girls mother in front of her. She wished she could, the amount of times Y/N's mother was away from her child was countless, Pepper even bought a crib for one of the boardrooms whenever she brought Y/N in.

"You can talk shit about her I don't care. She left me at home a lot, that's why I got so into science. Gave me an escape from home life you know? If she wasn't working she'd be out with friends or sleeping at one of her hundred boyfriends houses. I feel like she only chose to keep me as blackmail to Obadiah. I don't even think she'd know my middle name if you asked her," Y/N scoffed, putting her hands in the pockets of Peter's jacket for warmth before pulling out a coin, an old jelly bean and nondescript crumbs.

"Your middle name? It's M/N, duh. That's a shame you guys aren't close, I would be proud to have a kid as bright as you. I uh, I heard she couldn't afford college and Tony offered to pay for you..." Pepper said sitting on a bench and smiling when Y/N joined her, looking over Central Park.

"I was honestly pretty shocked when Mum coughed up the money for my first semester... I thought I'd have to reject the offer. God, she doesn't even feel like my Mum. I feel like I don't even have proper parents," she laughed, although the hint of sadness showed in her voice.

In a stalking way, Pepper would follow Y/No's milestones via social media. She felt like she was caught up and still in the loop. She saw her post about her first boyfriend, her first win at the school science fair, her first decathlon competition. Even without the bare minimum of her job, Pepper liked being an indirect part of Y/N's life.

"We told her about the paternity test results when Tony received them," Pepper admitted. Y/N nodded, asking Pepper what her mother's reaction was.

"She laughed. She said she always had a feeling. And then she asked for money or she'd leak it to the press," Pepper said sadly, knowing that Y/N's mother was a gold digger. She also assumed that because her mother knew about the paternity all this time and didn't tell her daughter, she didn't care about her child; just money.

"Parents aren't the be all and end although, blood doesn't always mean family. You can choose your family. You know Tony wasn't that close to his Dad either. And you know about Peter's parents right?" Pepper said trying to console her.

"He's never really mentioned it, he just told me he lives with his Aunt May," Y/N shrugged.

"They died in a plane crash when he was really young. Then he lived with May and his uncle Ben but Ben unfortunately passed away too... The kid has had a lot of his family ripped away. It's why I think he views Tony kind of like a Dad sometimes... That's just between you and me though," Pepper winked.

"That's horrible... He's never mentioned it to me," Y/N sighed.

"He's pretty open about it, most people around Queens knew about it because Ben's death was a hit to the community. I know this because it's my job to know everything there is to know about everything," Pepper laughed, taking a deep breath and sighing as she heard the personalised ringtone for Tony coming through her phone.

"Have you guys checked your phones lately? This revolution bullshit is all online now. Happy is around the corner, you both need to come back now," Tony said through the phone, causing Pepper to furrow her brows and hang up.

"What is it?" Y/N asked.

"It's The Revolution..."