Chapter 4
Annabeth
Pepper Potts was an amazing woman. She had been a little confused initially about Percy being there with her, but once that had been explained she welcomed him as well. Nobody mentioned their scars or gray streaks. It was still awkward, but Pepper had suggested they make lunch and talk while they ate, which broke some of the tension. Percy offered to help her make the sandwiches, and the two of them bonded instantly. She couldn't cook very well, but Percy had grown up with Sally Jackson and knew how to cook like the best of chefs. Her, Peter, Rhodey and Tony set the table, then sitting in mostly awkward silence. It was clear that everyone had questions, but nobody had worked up the nerve to ask her much yet. Tony looked like he was freaking out, which she supposed was understandable in the situation. She decided to throw them a bone.
“Frederick Chase,” she said, breaking the silence. Tony’s eyes had wandered from her to Percy, but they shot back to her while she spoke. “You said I was kidnapped, right? Well the person that I was told was my father is Frederick Chase. If you want to look for who took me, start there.”
Tony and Rhodey exchanged glances. “Thank you for telling us, we’ll look into him," Rhodey said after a moment, pausing. "This must be hard for you.”
She shrugged. “It's not like I have a connection with him, I haven't seen him since I ran away when I was seven.”
“And you said you stayed at a camp after you ran away right? How did a seven year old pay for that?” Peter butted in.
She just smiled and shook her head. “We didn't have to pay for it, it’s free for everyone who gets in.”
“It's not exactly free,” Percy called out from the kitchen. “We pulled our weight keeping it together.”
She nodded, her face falling a bit. “Yeah, we did.”
Everyone else in the room looked extremely confused and more than slightly worried about this, but Pepper announced that lunch was ready and they all sat down.
“So what is this camp called?” Pepper asked.
Her and Percy glanced at each other. His face seemed to say, ‘It's your choice whether to tell them or not yet’ so she decided against it.
“It’s kind of a secret,” is what she decided to go with. It was clearly the wrong choice by the raised eyebrows she got. They probably thought she was in a cult now. Actually, if she thought about it, CHB was similar to a cult. They did worship gods that most of the world dismissed as myth. It wasn't, but to an outsider who didn't have all the information? Definitely sounds like one.
At that moment, an energetic five year old girl burst into the room. She ran towards Pepper, who lifted the girl onto her lap. This must be Morgan, then. The little girl was practically an internet ghost for her protection, probably because of how Annabeth was kidnapped. A man in a suit with a goatee followed her out of the elevator. He was clearly out of breath and mumbling about Starks being difficult to keep up with these days. He stopped when he saw them, eyes darting around the room.
“I didn't realize Peter was having friends over this afternoon. Aren't you supposed to be in school?” He said once he caught his breath.
“They aren't here as Peter's friends. Happy, we found Annabeth,” Tony replied.
Happy’s head whipped in her direction, obviously doing a double take. She had the urge to hide her arms from them. Most people were too polite or didn't care enough to ask about the scars, but some people just straight up went for it. She had a feeling Tony was going to be one of those people that just straight up asked.
“How did you find her,” Happy asked hesitantly.
“She tripped the fingerprint scanners when she came here for a field trip. Just think, we’ve spent all these years looking for her, and she comes to us,” Tony scoffed. Happy sat down without another word.
Just then, Percy’s face completely lit up. “Annabeth, you know what this means! You have a little sister the same age as my little sister!”
Annabeth smiled and laughed. “I guess I do,” she said, looking at Morgan. She pushed her now-finished plate away a little and stood up. “Perce, can I talk to you for a minute?”
Percy quickly nodded and got up, following her out into the hall. Her eyes flicked to the camera in the hallway. Whispering it would be then.
“Why didn't we know about this? How could the Gods not tell me? How could my mom keep this from me?” Annabeth was clearly not ok with what was going on, but only because she’d been blindsided with it. If she’d been informed beforehand about this rather than being led to believe that Frederick was her father, she would have been fine. Percy seemed to understand this and enveloped her in a hug. It really was enveloping too, since he’d had his growth spurt and was now several inches taller than her. She didn't really mind, even if she kind of missed the days when she had been taller.
“We’ll get through this Annie, just like we get through everything, ok? It’ll be ok, maybe not right now, but eventually.”
“But what if he wants me to stay here? We can't sleep apart and I have a feeling that's not going to fly here. He barely let you in the building with your record. Did you know you're still on an FBI watchlist?”
“Wait, really? That's kinda cool actually.”
Annabeth pulled away slightly and rested her forehead on Percy's chest. “I just don’t know what to do here. I’m supposed to be the one who has all the facts about everything we go up against, and I feel like I’m flying blind here.”
“Wise girl, we’re not fighting anything here, you don’t need your genius tactics right now. Just be yourself and come up with some better lies than ‘it's a secret’ for our past.” She smiled and looked up at him, nodding. “Now come on, let's go out there and show them that you are the most brilliant girl in the world.” She nodded again, and he grabbed her hand. They walked back out together to the table. Her posture was more relaxed now, and she felt slightly more at ease with everyone else in the room. Most everything from lunch had been cleaned up, and Tony was just putting the last few dishes in the dishwasher with Morgan as they walked back in.
Tony looked up immediately, seming to reassure himself that she was alive and less than twenty feet away from him. Rhodey invited them to sit on the couch with him and Peter, so they did. Neither of them was willing to let go of the other's hand, and they sat on the end of the couch together. Tony and Pepper sat down barely two minutes later with Morgan.
“So, Percy, you said earlier that you had a younger sister Morgan's age?” Pepper began.
“Yeah! Her name is Estelle and she is the absolute sweetest. The three of us went roller skating last week and she did so well! SHe only fell three times! It was really impressive. Do you want to see?” Percy asked excitedly.
“Sure,” Pepper replied, glancing at Tony, who shrugged.
Percy took out his phone and scrolled through it for a few seconds before he found what he was looking for. He handed his extremely beat up phone to Pepper, who held it out for Tony to see as well. She pressed play and everyone could hear the audio.
“Stella, you did so good,” Annabeth crooned. “Do it again so Precy can record for Mom, ok?”
“Yeah Stella, Mom’s going to be so proud of you. We’re proud of you too,” Percy added.
Estelle laughed and proceeded to attempt a pirouette on roller skates. She managed to stay on her feet and complete a few spins before she started wobbling and reached out for Annabeth, who steadied her. The camera shook as Percy clapped for his younger sister and Annabeth began clapping as well once Estelle was stable. The video ends with Annabeth picking up Estelle in a big hug.
“Aww, she’s adorable. Maybe she could come over sometime and play with Morgan,” Pepper said, handing Percy back his phone. Percy nodded enthusiastically.
“So, Annabeth, you live with Percy and his family?” Tony said, not even attempting to be subtle about prying for information.
“Yeah, after everything the director thought it was best if we weren't separated,” Annabeth replied.
“Why can’t you be separated?” Rhodey asked.
She was hesitant to answer, but in reality they would find out one way or another. It was probably better if she just told them.
“Umm…Percy and I both have nightmares just about all the time from PTSD. We’re the only ones who can calm each other down afterward. We tried not living together but after about a week we decided that it wasn't going to work out. Percy’s mom, Sally, offered to let me stay with them for the year. Sally’s wonderful, and it was the best option for us sooo,” Annabeth trailed off after that. She tried to ignore their wide eyes after she had mentioned their PTSD, and hoped they didn't ask. She really didn't want to go there. Percy squeezed her hand reassuringly and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
“What is your PTSD from,” Tony asked. “If you don’t mind saying, that is.” He tacked on at the end, almost as an afterthought, but at least he tried to be sensitive with that one.
“I do mind, and it's none of your business.” Annabeth replied, forcefully but not unkindly.
He looked a little distant, but not angry. His whole mood had turned melancholy; she couldn't really blame him. His long lost daughter shows up and tells him she has PTSD? Definitely not ideal, but hey, at least she was alive to tell him. She’d been in enough near death experiences to know that just having this conversation was a miracle. If she had died, he would have gone his whole life not knowing.
Tony lifted up Morgan and set her down on the couch beside him before standing up.
“How about we take a tour of the building? I can show you the labs, R&D, gym, offices. That is why you came here this morning after all, right?”
She nodded, smiling. "That sounds great!"
The R&D labs did sound super cool. She stood up and dragged Percy up with her after he was done being dramatic about not wanting to get up from the super comfy couch. Normally, she would have been mildly exasperated by his antics, but she knew he was only being dramatic currently because he wanted to break a little more of the tension away. He managed it too, Morgan was laughing at him and even Tony chuckled a little bit. They followed the adults (and Morgan) to the elevator.
She felt her heartbeat rise and held Percy’s hand a little tighter. She never wanted to be in an elevator again, but it's not like she could make everyone take the stares because she was scared. She didn't want to be known as a nuisance, she wanted these people to like her. That revelation hit her like a truck, but she moved past it, just trying to focus on breathing. She could see Percy out of the corner of her eye doing the same thing. Tony looked at them like he wanted to say something, but then he looked at Morgan and decided to stay quiet.
“Take us to R&D please, Fri.” Tony drawled to his AI. It didn't even respond, the elevator just started moving down. It was crowded with all of them in there, and she was grateful when the doors opened and they all spilled out onto the research and development floor. Tony walked around like he owned the place, which he did, but he had a certain air of confidence about him now. He was putting on his business face for his employees, even though he acted like he didn't care what anyone else thought. He lifted his hands like ‘this is it’.
“Welcome to R&D.”