Chapter 3
Tony Stark sat on the couch beside his fiancee as he asked, "Hey Penny, my little protégée. How've you been?"
"Very well, my good sir!" Penny replied full of humour.
"How was school, sweetheart?" Pepper asked as well.
"It's been the same as always, Pepper." Penny causally answered.
"Now, hang on, why is Pepper 'Pepper' and I'm still 'Mr. Stark'?" Tony incredulously questioned. Penny smirked towards her mentor, "I was taught to respect my elders, Mr. Stark."
Pepper giggled and Tony just stared blankly at Penny. "I'm gonna move on like you just didn't call me old, because we got important business to talk about."
"Alright then." Penny followed through and put her bag down then sat down in front of them. "Let's get straight to the point." Tony said, wanting this to be done with.
"You're fired." A voice called out, entering the room.
All heads went towards the direction of said voice. None other than, Riri Williams is standing there with a smile on her face.
"Riri!" Penny happily shouted. She rushed over to give her best friend a hug.
Penny and Riri had met after a week of the Homecoming incident. Tony noticed an Iron Man Suit flying around in New York. Tony had actually tracked down the suit, as it led to a 15 year old girl who is attending MIT. Tony had offered his own support of building Riri her own suit of armor.
That led to the birth of IronHeart. Tony had also grown quite attached to Riri. Both would occasionally visit the tower and work with Tony.
Riri smiled even more as she gave her, practically, surrogate sister a hug back.
"Not to be rude but, what are you doing here?"
"Tony called me here. Needed to discuss something. Glad I got here just in time." Riri filling her in.
"See, Copy calls me Tony. Why can't you do the same?" Tony wondered. Copy is what Tony calls Riri. It's appropriate since Riri has an exactly different version of the Iron Man suit.
"Alright, Old Man. Tell us what's got your gears twisting up, if you called us both here." Riri smirked.
Penny and Pepper both attempted to contain their laughter, and Tony just sighed wanting to get this over and done with.
"Alright, sit down. We've got some important business to discuss." Pepper called over.
Penny and Riri both sat down. They both have the same thought. What could be so important for Tony to call them both here?
Tony began first. "After the whole Germany fiasco, I've been trying to amend the Accords. Set it straight, so we can defend Earth on our own terms. We were able to convince the UN to give pardons to all the Rogues, including removing the house arrests on Hawkeye and Ant-Man."
Penny and Riri were happy by that.
"Well, that's great!" Penny is a sweet innocent child. Teenager, but not her. She was similar to that of a 6 year old.
"Yeah. But I'm guessing there's bad news?" Riri is the more mature one. Kind of, she was also the one who started prank wars, and still acted dumb on so many occasions.
"Yep. The Rogues are temporarily pardoned in case of any emergencies. They also need to represent themselves in a trial. AND they have to move back in to the tower. Exactly tomorrow." Tony wrapped up.
Penny and Riri now had looks of shock on their faces. What did this mean? Will the Avengers be brought back together? Will Penny and Riri have to leave? How will this affect their lives?
Tony seemed to have read their minds. A look of reassurance crossed his face. "You two are don't need to leave, if that's what you're thinking."
Well if, Penny and Riri didn't have looks of shock before, they definitely do now.
"I need some somewhat sanity here. We're not sending you two back home to avoid something that you will definitely encounter in the future. This would solve problems already, and you two can keep sides from fighting each other." Pepper explained.
"This is why she runs S.I. You're smart in your own ways, Ms. Potts." Tony said.
"I need to be for our sake." Pepper said, seriously.
That got a giggle out of Penny and Riri. They then glanced at each other. Wondering the same thing.
"This is your choice to make." Tony reassuringly told them. "We can't force you two to stay here."
Now. They think.
Penny and Riri both thought that they needed to stay here. Spider-Girl and IronHeart are public figures that can stick up for the Avengers. Tony had told them that, once their older they'll be made official Avengers. They will admit, the Accords could be a problem for them too. As well as the other vigilantes of New York. And what about the Inhumans? They've been getting bad press about the past blackouts they've been accused of last year.
Who would defend the innocent? Save their lives in the middle of a world-ending catastrophe?
They now know their choice.
Penny and Riri gave each other knowing looks.
Simultaneously: "We'll stay."