Copycat: Origins (Marvel Fem!OC)

Family.

"Tony, she's here!"

Pepper welcomed her, the woman delivered a few obvious observations about the young girl's appearance. Tony showed up carrying a small person in his arms: their daughter, Morgan Stark.

"So you decided to pay us a visit," He nodded shortly. "Took you long enough."

"Harley and Pietro kidnapped me during the first week," she joked, "is Happy here? Rhodes?"

"Rhodey's working," Tony said vaguely. Cat knew their friend was hunting down Barton. "Happy will be here for dinner, he'll need a drink once he sees you..."

"This is Morgan?" She approached them with a smile. "Hi, princess!"

The toddler stared at her with curiosity. Cat hid her claws and changed her purple irises back to their old brown. Tony was examining her appearance as if looking for some kind of mental decay.

"The lullaby protocol worked like a charm," The young woman said. "Don't give me that look."

"I'm not looking," He replied shortly. "Just taking you in. Such a big girl. Are you hungry? We'll make cheeseburgers. You want a cheeseburger?"

"Yes."

"Come in, make yourself at home, Kitkat."

***

"C.C!"

She let Happy hug her as tight as he could. "My name's Cat, Happy."

He nodded, a little frown forming on his face. "I thought you hated cats?"

"Meh," The girl wrinkled her nose and shrugged. "They're kinda cute."

"Cat," Happy eyed her like a proud dad. "I like your hair."

"I'm thinking of changing it again, I want it long," She confessed. "Short hair was practical in space but it's the middle of winter here and I freeze every time I go to the city..."

"You can do that kind of stuff now?"

"I'm good as new," Cat opened her arms as if to show off her new body. "Actually, that's the reason I came back. Gotta learn to control my abilities if I want to be an Avenger again."

"Do you want to?" Happy inquired. "Tony's retired and Pietro's focusing on his life, he's not been at the compound in years... Perhaps you should consider it too?"

"I'm too young to retire," She laughed. "It's the only reason why I'm still around, I can't give it up."

"I didn't give up," Tony spoke behind them. "I learned to stand back. She's partially right, though, Happy. Cat's too young to wish for a quiet life."

The man approached holding a large plate with several cheeseburgers, he watched her carefully.

"What do you need to control?"

"Me," She grabbed the drink Tony was offering to her. "I gotta control my behavioral mimicking. I'll have to visit Banner's lab at some point to see if there's a way to fix it..."

"I'm proud of you."

"You say that all the time, old man," She replied, eyes fixed on her coke as she raised it up to her lips.

"I mean it," Tony raised a brow. "You're not afraid to admit when you need help. You're smart."

She drank half of the liquid in one gulp. "Kurt dragged me out of shady bars more times than I'd like to admit, Tony..."

The men were looking at her with matching scowls, Cat felt bitter accomplishment.

"I'm not saying it to hurt you," She continued calmly. "Things escalated the moment we parted ways. I don't know if it was fate or if I'm just incompetent, but don't get your hopes too high up, guys."

"What a way to kill the mood," Happy groaned. "Don't talk like that, you're a good girl."

"Don't you mean mutant?" 

For years the adults in her life had told her that everything would turn out okay, that she just had to push through, she just needed to keep up. Nevertheless, for every good thing that she'd gotten, about five other catastrophes had occurred. She didn't want to get carried away. Not again.

"You're our kid, that's what you are," Happy responded. "You're family. Right, Tony?"

The man shrugged. "If she doesn't want to be we can't force her. But I think I understand how you're feeling. Do you need space? Take it. Half of everything's gone. We'll be right here if you ever want to come back."

"Coming back isn't exactly my thing," She took a huge bite of her food. "I don't like retracing my steps..."

"You'll have to, at some point, you're already doing it," Tony replied wisely. "It's the only way to get better."

________________

She was staring down at the city, it was late and the wind was pushing her curls forward, but she paid no mind to any of it. Her phone rang, Pietro's picture lighting up the screen.

"Cat here."

"Hi, just calling to let you know I'm back in my dorm, about to sleep. How are you?"

"I'm meditating."

"You're outside the compound?"

"I'm on the rooftop, yeah," She lied. "I like looking at the stars... ain't much to see, though, it's too bright down here, dims 'em out."

"It's kinda loud out there."

"The city sounds bounce back, and there's a bunch of bugs around, but it's not insufferable."

"I was thinking..." Pietro continued, "you can use my apartment if you want. The place is empty, I'd appreciate it if you could take a look from time to time to make sure everything's good."

"What about the security cameras you had?"

"Someone broke into the apartment and stole them, about a year ago." 

"You never told me that," Cat moved to the ledge and tried to determine which way it was Pietro's place. "Did they take anything apart from the cameras?"

"Just the lightbulbs and the cameras— A microwave too..."

"I'll visit tomorrow."

"Oh, there's no hurry, I'm just saying the place is there if you ever want to get away from the others. At least that way I'll know you're not in some random bar."

Cat smiled. "I'm basically twenty-one, you know? It's not your responsibility to make sure I'm okay."

"You don't get to decide how I use my spare time," He scoffed. "Don't isolate yourself. Call me often. You can trust me with your thoughts."

"I know." But I don't want to. "I should go back inside, it's late and I'm hungry."

"Okay," Cat was certain she could hear his smile. "It's good to have you back, Copy."

"Happy to be back."

She hung up, then tapped the screen until she could hear the police reports. Cat's helmet concealed her head fully, she tapped her watch and the radio sound redirected itself to the earpiece, Cat put her phone in the side pocket of her suit.

The mimic leaped off the building and disappeared into the shadows.