Reconciliation
“Miss Ahlers, Mister Parker is calling.”
“Go ahead and put him on speaker, JARVIS.” Sage stood up and stretched, meandering over to her closet. “Peter! How’s it hangin’?”
“Yeah, well, you know. Not much good happens during second semester. We’re going.”
“Ain’t that the truth. What’s up, man? You usually don’t call.”
“Yeah, um, about that.”
Sage stifled a groan, because she knew what was coming next.
“Mister Stark just wanted me to, I dunno, check on you, I guess? He said you all got in a fight?”
She rolled her eyes. “They were all stalking this girl that I have a crush on to ‘make sure I’m safe’ and to ‘make sure they approve.’ Like, I’m not even dating her!”
“But you want to.”
"So bad.”
“Well, I get where you’re coming from, but… Try not to be too hard on Mister Stark. Y’know he’s new to the whole ‘dad’ thing, and I’ve heard that his dad was a real douchebag, so-”
“Yeah, I hear ya. I know I just wanna be petty for a bit longer.”
Peter laughed over the line, causing Sage to grin. “Yeah, I get that. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Seeya, Spidey.”
---
That day, Sage went to the lab after school. She went and sat on the couch, smiling when Dum-E immediately zoomed over to her, chirping happily. “Hey, buddy.” She refused to look up and acknowledge Tony; instead she began talking to Dum-E and, when they too sped over, U and Butterfingers. “You know, guys, I really appreciate that you don’t stalk my crushes.”
U spun his claw inquiringly, beeping softly.
“No, no. I know you wouldn’t, U. It’s just that some people have been. And the thing is, maybe if I’d known a little bit, I wouldn’t be so pissed off. I just wish that those people would have perhaps asked me about my crush, and maybe waited to do the intimidation thing after Addy and I were dating. If we ever dated. It just feels like they don’t trust me, you know? Hurts my feelings.”
Tony felt his chest clench as Butterfinger whirred sadly. He turned to look at Sage and saw her staring straight at him as she patted the bots. “Sage, I-”
She shook her head and stood, cooing softly at the bots as they scrambled out of her way. “I know you guys didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just frustrating, especially from you and Papa. It made sense with Aerin. But I hadn’t even told you about Adeline yet, and you- you-”
“Sweetheart, we’re so sorry. I- we-” He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. He held a cautious hand out to her. “I really should have thought about how that would affect you. If Howard had tried to do something like that to me, I would have thrown a tantrum and gone on a week long drinking binge. Not that Howard ever paid attention to any of my… flings, but-” He smiled tightly when she took his hand. “Loki and I carried away trying to do our best to keep you safe. We were definitely in the wrong. I'm sorry. Please don’t blame the rest of the team for this. It was almost entirely me.”
Sage sighed and pulled him into a hug. “I forgive you. I do. It’s just… annoying, but I get it. I’m still going to be mad at Nat and Wanda for a while.
“Should I tell Pepper that you’re mad at her too? She’s the one who sent me Adeline’s background check.”
“She did WHAT?!”
He winced.
---
Sage invited Peter to that week’s movie night and refused to sit with anyone else. She sat him down on the loveseat and curled up next to him, the two of them talking animatedly about homework and how much school sucked. She was wearing a t-shirt with a little Deadpool on it that Tony hated, and Peter couldn’t help but comment.
“Do you know Deadpool?”
“Nah. I really wanna meet him, but Dad says he’s too mentally unstable, which, me, but-”
The boy laughed, noticing Wanda glaring at him, and shifted slightly closer to Sage with a gulp. “He patrols with me sometimes. We’ll get, like, Mexican food after patrol.”
Tony blanched from where he was plastered against Loki on the couch. “He does what?! How- what- Does he know you’re underage?!”
Sage rolled her eyes while Peter blushed. “Mister Stark, that’s really not- ‘Pool and I are barely even friends, there’s no reason to- I would never-”
“Dad, honestly. Lay off. Peter can love whoever he wants to once he turns eighteen.”
”Sage!”
The girl cackled and winked at Peter. “Are we gonna watch this movie, or what?”
Steve chuckled and picked up the remote.