ʟᴏꜱᴛ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ || 𝟙

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 21

"The kid. Whose is she?" Demetria asked, wiping off the river of sweat that came from a good fight and tying back her hair in a quick ponytail, following Pepper and Morgan from a cautious distance.

"Um, Iron Man's, Mr Stark's - Tony Stark I mean." Peter replied and even she could detect the change in his tone when he spoke of Morgan's father. It ached with a heavy sadness, the sort of ache that seemed to wrap around every word that came out of his mouth.

"He sort of made all of this possible." He waved his hands around the headquarters, although as he stared down at his own hands, she had a feeling that this Tony Stark character had done a hell of a lot more than build this compound.

"And you guys think that it's a good idea to keep a child of her age in a building where literally everyone is either trained to be an assassin, has some sort of superpower or in my case a two in one deal?"

"No one touches Morgan Stark without going through me," Peter's voice filled with a protective ferocity as he spoke of the little girl. The way he looked at her, it was like someone had given him one of the greatest gifts of a lifetime and yet a huge burden that he would have to carry for the rest of his days.

As if summoned by the mention of her name, a streak of blue and pink rushed to Peter, tackling his legs as he pretended to fall, collapsing dramatically to the floor, quickly embraced by a bundle of childish giggles.

"You got me, you got me!" he groaned exaggeratedly, writhing in fake pain as Morgan rained down blows upon him.

"Morgan!" Pepper shouted, aghast as she attempted to rescue Peter who was thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was being pummeled by a six year old.

"Mommy, can I hang out with Peter today?" she quickly clambered off of him, grabbing his left hand with both of hers as he stood up.

"I don't know, Peter has stuff to do today doesn't he?" Pepper asked, eyes widening, despite the fact that her heart was beaming at the sight of her only child clinging onto her self-proclaimed "older brother"

Tony would have loved to see it.

"I'm sure I could spare a few hours for Morgan," Peter relented, Morgan turning to her mother, pleading.

"Okay, fine but only till dinner, then we have to go home." Pepper said sternly. "And please don't cause him any trouble, I think it's the 4th time we had to restore the lab," she sighed, glaring playfully at both of them equally.

"Can Demetria come?" she asked in a hesitant voice, turning back to the older girl who was far too surprised to respond.

"Sure." Pepper's response shocked her even further when she agreed to leave her only child to the responsibility of two teenagers, one of whom had no idea who she was and was capable of absorbing explosions that happened in mid-air.

"I love you 500." She smiled, reaching her arms out for Parker to carry her.

"I thought it was 3000." Pepper placed a hand upon her heart feigning hurt.

"3000's only for Daddy." Morgan protested, latching her thin arms around Parker's neck.

"I know sweetie, I know," she smiled sadly, placing a gentle kiss on Morgan's forehead before leaving.

"Can we go swinging outside again?" Morgan immediately asked as soon as Pepper was out of earshot.

He quickly shushed her, shaking his head and putting a finger to her lips as she erupted in giggles.

"You know you can never tell your mom that, I think she would have me killed... or worse, kicked me out. Besides, Demetria needs a place to stay while she's here so we have to go and get her settled. Why don't you show her where Black Widow's old room was and at the same time we can give her the grand tour." He suggested, lowering her back down to the ground gently, Parker having to bend down as she continued to hold onto his hand.