You had been sitting on the couch in your apartment, your father and Tony Stark standing in front of you, talking between themselves in low voices.
You shifted uncomfortably, trying to catch what they were saying. You sat on your hands, your leg bouncing nervously. What could have happened in the few hours that you were gone that made your father so angry? You were so anxious about your father that you almost forgot about Peter. You wished you were with him now, knowing that being in his presence and hearing his voice and his laugh would put you at immediate ease.
Chewing your lip, you leaned over to listen more closely. Tony was arguing something, to which your father shook his head and gestured to you, saying something in response.
"-she's not a regular kid," Tony hissed back. "Rogers, you need to-"
"I don't need to do anything," your father spoke clearly, his voice ringing through the room. Tony's jaw clenched in frustration, glancing to you. Once you both made eye contact, he put on that charismatic grin and pulled a card out from his jacket. Holding it out to you with his index and middle finger, you tentatively took it and furrowed your brow in confusion.
"Give that number a ring, if you're interested in an internship under me," he said. With one last glance to your father, he gave him a mock salute and sauntered out of your apartment.
You held the business card in front of you, reading the letters and numbers. Looking up, you noticed your father hadn't moved from his position, his arms still crossed and his head bowed down.
"Papa," you whispered, swallowing hard. "What's going on?"
"Don't call that number."
You stared at the card in your hands, Tony's words echoing in your mind. "What did he mean?"
Your father kept his back to you. "Don't pay anything he said any mind, [Y/N]."
She's not a regular kid.
A couple of weeks passed without incident. You didn't speak another word about what had happened that night, what Tony had whispered about you, or the business card you shoved under your mattress and lied about throwing away. You tried to turn all of your focus to Peter, who you hadn't mentioned anything to. You two hadn't talked about where you both stood in regards to your relationship-but to be honest, you were too preoccupied with the cryptic words Tony had left behind. Your father left for another job a few hours later, after you had gone to bed-without giving you any of the usual information as to where he went or what he was doing. It stung, but it wasn't out of the ordinary for him to react this way. While you knew he loved you more than anything, he wasn't in the best position to be a single father. Sometimes you wondered why he kept you. He was always emotionally reserved, kept a few secrets himself, but you had to remind yourself from time to time that he did the best he could under the circumstances. You found that you had to remind yourself of that more often than not lately.
You had sat on your couch the next morning, the apartment cold and empty. His go-bag was gone, with a note that read: Make smart decisions. I love you, little super soldier. You held the piece of paper tightly in your hand, tears brimming in your eyes.
"[Y/N]?" Peter's voice broke into your thoughts. You snapped back to reality, his eyes watching you with concern."Where'd you go?"
"Sorry," you mumbled, rubbing your temples. "Things at home aren't....aren't going so well."
Ned gave you a sympathetic look while Peter frowned, scooting closer to you. "What's going on?" he asked, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear. You couldn't help the blush that crept into your cheeks, and hid a shy smile.
But your next thought was your answer, which caused the smile to disappear from your face. Reaching into your bag, you pulled out the crushed card from underneath your mattress.
You pushed the crumpled business card that Tony had given you to the center of the table with a heavy sigh. Both boys instantly were alert, recognizing the Stark Industries logo at the top of the card.
"This is one of his personal numbers," Peter said, picking it up and examining it. "How did you get this?"
"I was offered an internship," you said vaguely, resting your chin in your hand. "Requested by Mr. Stark himself."
"Holy shit," Ned breathed. "How do I get in on this?"
Peter stared at you. "An-an internship?"
With a nod, you pulled the card out from his hand, brushing his fingers softly. "My father doesn't approve."
"How could he not approve?" Ned asked incredulously. "He's a genius and a billionaire-working under him is a straight shot up the ladder."
"It's complicated," you admitted, thinking of the strained relationship your father had with Tony. "I don't think I'm gonna take it."
"You should," Peter said bluntly. "I mean-at least, maybe call. You know?"
Swallowing, you stared at the number in your hands. You were burning to know what Tony had meant, and that was the final push you needed. You dialed the number, and waited.
"Hey, kid," a familiar voice spoke.
"I want the internship," you said firmly, Ned and Peter both flashing you a thumbs-up.
He was silent on the other end for a moment, before saying, "Rogers is gonna kill me."
You could hear the smile in his voice.
"You wanna go with me to Mr. Stark's office?" you asked Peter, who guided you out of the crowded school hallway. "Seeing as we're both kind of....co-workers."
"I'm-uh-not sure we'd be working in the same department," he replied quickly, his hand slipping into yours as you walked together towards the subway station. "Did he say anything about what-what you'd be doing?"
"No," you admitted. "He just said something about an interview and a briefing."
Peter was silent for a moment, before giving your hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure it'll be fine-but I gotta-" He gestured vaguely towards the other direction. "Duty calls."
You placed a kiss on his cheek shyly. "Maybe I'll see you around today," you teased. "Do you want to go get Thai later tonight-when you're free?"
"I would larb that," he joked, before slapping his hand over his face in embarrassment, his cheeks turning a deep red. "Sorry-that was not funny. Thai sounds great, I'll see you soon." Now it was his turn to place a kiss on your cheek, and he jogged away with a grin on his face. How could you have possibly gotten so lucky?
"[Y/N]! Right on time," Tony called, his voice echoing over the pristine waiting lobby that you sat in nervously. He glanced at his watch, and grimaced. "Actually, I'm late. But that's not the point. Follow me, kid."
You obeyed, asking, "You aren't going to say anything to my father, right?"
"Trust me, we'd both be in the doghouse if he knew-which makes this more fun."
Tony led you to two sliding doors, a giant lab hiding behind them. The amount of advanced technology sitting in that room overwhelmed you, and you were itching to run off and explore it all. You wondered if Peter had seen any of this.
"Alright, bottom line is this," Tony spoke, turning to face you. "I'm assuming you know your pops' origin story, right?"
"How he got his....abilities, you mean?"
"If that's what you wanna call them," he said. "But yeah. Those-along with his perfect teeth."
"What about them?"
You both passed through the lab, and into a large office. Tony gestured to a chair sitting in front of a giant, mahogany desk, to which you sank into, more confused than ever. He sat opposite you, kicking his feet up and leaning back.
"The serum that advanced his physical and mental....faculties," he started, rubbing his brow. "Half of it passed to you, paternally. Genetically."
Your hands wrung in your lap. "How do you know?"
"We ran tests on you when you were born," he stated, matter-of-factly. "Off the charts."
"What does....what does it mean? Why are you telling me this now?"
Tony sighed. "Because-and I'm sorry in advance, sort of-but Rogers is being naive. He needs to address the fact that you're not ordinary, that you're truly Captain America's daughter."
"I'm guessing there's no internship."
He grinned. "Not exactly-I just want your permission to run more tests. See where your limits are sitting at, possibly train you to some other....initiates."
You furrowed your brow, looking at the floor in silence. You knew your father had good reasons for keeping you out of this part of his life, you knew the consequences if either of your were compromised. And now-meeting with Tony, you felt like you were betraying him.
"I'll do it," you quietly spoke. "But my father can't know."
Tony rubbed his hands together and sat up straight, pressing a button and speaking lowly into the com. "Oh, really quick-" he said to you, a holographic image appearing above his desk. "Give Peter Parker a message from me, will you?"
You stared at the image, and nodded slowly. "I-I will."
