This is How Our Story Ends

Twenty Questions

To the credit of the Avengers, they all held up their end of the deal. For the next two days that passed, no one brought up the Web Shooter Incident. Melanie was sure that someone would, most likely Clint, but even he kept his mouth shut about the entire thing.

Melanie had been tempted to text Peter, but every message she wrote sounded too awkward to hit send. She finally made up her mind to wait until they'd at least hung out a second time before texting him. So, she spent the next two days doing online assignments, sketching away at her desk and tinkering in the lab with her dad trying to ignore how the boy with curly hair that he tried to keep slicked back was constantly in the back of her mind.

Thursday rolled around, and she was struggling with her last two chemical equations. There was a knock at her door and she leaned back, calling, "Come in."

The door was propped open and Pepper poked her head in, "Hey, how's it going in here?"

"I hate chemistry, but other than that, fine," she shrugged, giving Pepper a false smile.

Pepper easily returned the favour. She tossed her head in the direction of the lab, "Why don't you go ask your dad for some help? Normally I'd offer, but chemistry was not my friend in high school."

Melanie huffed a laugh, "Yeah, I guess. Hold on," she cast Pepper a grin, "I thought you were good at everything?"

Pepper smirked, "I am. Just so happens that your father is an actual genius." Melanie grinned as she dragged her notebook off the desk, forcing herself from her comfy chair with a sigh. Pepper pulled the door open wider, calling over her shoulder, "There's also an intern here, who I've heard is pretty good at chemistry."

Melanie instantly looked up, moving a little faster to catch up to Pepper, "Wait, Peter's here?"

Pepper hid her smile as best she could, "Wow, you perked up fast." Melanie didn't give her a response; instead she sent a swift glare in her direction, making Pepper laugh, "Okay, okay. Either way, yes, he's here. Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Melanie tried desperately to ignore the smile on her face as she and Pepper walked towards the lab. The doors slid open, at the same time a lab table was sent tumbling through the air until it crashed on the other side of the room. There was a time where Melanie would have screamed, jumped, or turned away to avoid the incoming explosion; but that time had passed long ago.

Pepper on the other hand, grabbed Melanie's arm, stopping her from going further. She called, "What was that?"

They both spun around, identical looks on their faces that made Melanie laugh. Tony pointed to Peter, "He did it."

Peter turned to Tony, the perfect mock expression of betrayal on his face before he turned back to Melanie and Pepper, "I-I was trying to fix the gauntlet." He pulled his hand out from behind his back, revealing the Ironman gauntlet with a still-smoking repulsor.

Melanie walked down the steps, tossing her notebook onto a nearby table, "Is that Mark 12?"

Tony nodded, "Yeah, it's not calibrated correctly, FRIDAY can't even connect to it."

Melanie reached forward, ready to grab Peter's hand, but hesitated. She cleared her throat, "Mind if I?"

"Oh, no, here," he disconnected it, handing her the gauntlet to take a look at. She opened up the side panel, glancing at the wiring inside. She looked up at her dad, "Your processing chip is blown. It must have overheated at some point."

Both Peter and Tony stared at each other, expressions of shock on their faces as Melanie handed the gauntlet back. She shrugged, "You guys were probably looking too hard."