Copycat: The First Young Avenger.

Freshman Year.

"Rise and shine, Kitkat!" Stark's voice bounced everywhere in her room. "There's a friend here I want you to meet!"

C.C. groaned, getting up and walking out of the bedroom not even bothering to change. Barefoot and drowsy, she walked all the way to the main room.

"Is this how you choose to greet a new friend?" Stark demanded. "I told you, Potts, kid's a mess, one would think she was raised in a zoo!"

"I was raised behind bars, actually, so you're not wrong," Her eyes landed on the woman standing next to him. "Hi."

"Nice to meet you, C.C., my name's Pepper," They shook hands, "Tony has informed me that you'll be staying here for a while."

"I'm starting school this Monday," She explained. "So yeah, I'll be here for a few years."

Saying it out loud gave her nausea, she'd never stayed for long willingly, and now she was starting high school, after all that time she'd spent locked up. It sounded crazy, was it truly possible to have a normal life when she wasn't normal?

"Wanna know the worst part?" Tony asked the woman. "She doesn't even have clothes for one day."

Pepper raised a brow. "Did you call me so you could pass the responsibility to buy her clothes to me?"

"I know nothing about little girl's attire, do you want to trust me with this? Do you want to trust her? Look at her, Potts, she's barefoot! Her pj's are my old clothes- please save us."

Pepper laughed under her breath, she eyed C.C. with a bit of fondness.

"Have you ever gone shopping, C.C?"

"No, and the concept terrifies me."

"Everything'll be terrifying for a while, you'll get used to it," The woman offered her hand to her, C.C. took it. "I'll have her home by six- you better have dinner ready."

"Of course," Tony kissed her briefly.

"You're his girlfriend!" C.C. exclaimed. "Why?"

Pepper laughed, Tony glared at the kid.

"Keep that up and I'll put cat food on your plate!"

"You shouldn't do that, I might like it," C.C. smirked.

***

"What kind of clothes d'you think you'll like?"

"Well, I don't like tight stuff," C.C. said, absently looking at some jeans. "Make me feel like I'm trapped in them... I think dresses would be nice- as long as they stretch, and don't have buttons, and the neck isn't high..."

"Summer dresses then," Pepper hummed. "But you'll need something warm for winter."

"I like boots," C.C. replied, "like the ones Stark made for me- but normal boots are okay too I guess, although some are heavy- Oh! Cardigans, Wanda said I would like those! If we can find knitted sweaters but not too-"

"Tight, yes. We can buy you everything a size larger, we can look for woolen skirts too, that should do," Pepper smiled. "Are you excited about school?"

"No," C.C. made a face. "I won't be learning any cool spy stuff, I'll be surrounded by kids my age with happy houses and completely normal bodies that don't have claws..."

"Meeting kids your age could be fun," The woman handed her a nice lavender dress, then kept walking through the hall. "Better if they don't have superpowers."

"Cause then I'll realize my abilities are a privilege and I should use them responsibly?" She asked sarcastically.

"No," Pepper gave her a look. "Because they'll treat you like they would treat any other kid. People in S.H.I.E.L.D rarely treat you like that, I assume?"