stark, peter parker

xv. this is weird. we can agree this is weird, right?

it's a few months later when the stark industries scandal finally starts catching up to the eldest of the stark daughters. dakota was with peter, ned, and mj, who had all just received their mit application results. when each of them was rejected, dakota slapped her envelope on the bar of the diner that mj was working at. "this is bullshit." she said.

with her father's pull at mit, and each of their glistening transcripts, she'd assumed that they would all get in with no problem. however, it seemed thar no friend of spider-man was allowed at mit.

"kodie, i'm so sorry." peter said, putting a hand on her back as he looked down at their matching rejection letters. "i know you.. i know going to mit was a big deal to you."

she shrugged, looking at the other two letters that ned and mj had torn in half. she wouldn't change a thing, either. she picked her envelope up and ripped it. "mit just rejected three of the best people i know, as well as a co-owner of one of the greatest companies in the country." she said. "clearly they're not as big of a deal as i thought."

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

when dakota got back home, she was immediately alarmed by all of the phone calls she'd missed. she gathered that she was needed at stark tower, and that there was some sort of emergency. upon her arrival, she was swarmed with people. "okay, one at a time, what's going on?"

"there's talk of fbi investigation. apparently the mysterio mix-up is bad enough that stark industries could be closed down for good." someone said.

"okay, let's not give in to rumors and hearsay, yeah?" kodie reminded everyone around her, though the words 'closed down for good' did nothing but send a chill down her spine. stark industries had been there her whole life, it was her father's legacy. what would happen without it?

"miss stark... when miss potts isn't here, you're our boss." another person said. "what do you think we should do?"

she was on the edge of eighteen, and dakota didn't feel anywhere near qualified enough to make a decision about what to have for lunch, let alone a decision for an entire company. "i.. uh.. i don't know. but... i'll consult miss potts, okay? and.. we'll find out what to do. it'll all work out." she said as she attempted to get away from the crowd of people.

as she was headed towards the door, her secretary ran over to her. "miss stark? there's someone in your office here to see you."

dakota looked back over her shoulder. "is it that absolute ass from the fbi? because if so, you can tell him i'm not interested."

the secretary, whose name was billie, shook her head. "no, it's a woman. she got here about fifteen minutes ago and said she wanted to talk to you."

she sighed, running a hand through her hair as she began to walk towards the direction of the stairs. "okay, thanks, billie."

when dakota walked into the main office (that was frequently pepper's, but, on occasions when she was out, belonged to kodie) she saw the woman. she was standing with her back to the door, and her dark hair cascaded down her back in waves. everything about her screamed cool, and the stark girl had never before felt so intimidated by someone.

"i'm sorry to keep you waiting, i wasn't aware that i was scheduled to any meetings today." kodie spoke, gaining the woman's attention. her face was even more intimidating– her dark green gaze was intense, yet void of true emotion.

"oh, i should be the one apologizing, miss stark." the woman replied, her voice honey laced with malice. "i didn't schedule this meeting, i just didn't know how to contact you other than through work purposes." she explained.