The Secrets of Petra (Parker) Stark

23

Pepper ran into the Avengers Compound. Steve was waiting for her.

"Where's Tony?" Pepper asked, panting slightly.

"Medbay. I'll take you there."

"Do you know what happened?"

Steve shook his head. "Tony called telling us to prep the medbay. Then he came in with Petra in his arms. She looked pretty beaten up."

"How long ago?"

"Few minutes." Like the natural gentleman he was, Steve opened the door for Pepper and motioned for her to step in. She did so and immediately went to stand by Tony's side. 

Petra was no longer in her spidersuit, but in just the under-armor that she wore. Her under-armor was short sleeved, which revealed the scraped and cuts along her arms. Bucky was in the process of wrapping them in bandages. Her ribcage was also wrapped.

Pepper ran a hand gently through Petra's tangled hair. "Will she be alright?"

"With her healing factor, she should be right as rain in a few days," Bucky replied as he finished the bandaging. "She's got a few busted ribs, but other than that, nothing's broken. There's a lot of cuts along her arms and legs, but luckily her suit prevented her from getting rocks or anything in it."

"When did you become a medic?" Steve asked light-heartedly. 

Bucky just shrugged. "We'll give you guys some alone time." He stood up and dragged Steve out of the room. 

Once they were gone, Pepper said, "Bucky seems nice."

"He is," Tony agreed. 

Just then, Petra started stirring. Her eyes fluttered open, though they seemed slightly unfocussed.

"Hey," Pepper said softly as she brushed some of Petra's hair off of her face. 

"Mom?" Petra's voice was weak and came out mostly as a whisper.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here. Are you alright?"

Petra rubbed her eyes with her right hand, pausing for a second at the sight of the bandages. "What happened?" She seemed more awake now.

"I was hoping you could tell me that, kiddo," Tony said. 

Petra was silent as she thought back to what had happened earlier. "Vulture. Dropped a building on me." Pepper audibly gasped. Petra noticed and immediately went to reassure her. "I'm okay. Super strength, remember? Just a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing my healing factor can't handle."

Pepper sighed. "I know, but I wish you wouldn't have to use it at all. I just want you to be safe."

Petra bit her lip, obviously at a loss for words.

Tony, not one for liking silence, said, "She just takes after her old man like that, constantly flinging herself into danger... Not that I approve. You were supposed to call."

Petra winced. "I didn't want to lose the element of surprise by making a sound. Not that that turned out well for me."

"Well, you did take the man out. Just... Don't make a habit out of this, okay?"

Petra looked surprised. "You're not gonna... take the suit away?"

"Why would I do that? You'd probably go off on your own without it anyways, am I right? It's function is to protect you, which it can't do if you don't have it."

"But you are grounded," Pepper added.

"What?!" Petra protested.

"No patrol until you're fully healed."