Stark Crossed Lovers

Chapter Forty-Nine

A  month had passed since that last fight with Oc. In that month Midtown High School gym had been fully rebuilt, mainly due to a large donation from the Stark Impact Foundation. May had finally found out about Peter being Spider-Man after, he dragged himself in from the fight bloody and bruised. Of course, being as wise as she was she had suspected it from the beginning, but that didn't mean she was any less surprised. Nick, the EMT that tended to Sam's injuries from the fight, as well as the other first responders that helped Tony,  were all awarded checks and medals from The Stark Impact Foundation, and even got to have a private dinner with Tony Stark himself. Tony Stark made a full recovery with his friends and family by his side, and did eventually propose to Pepper, who immediately said yes. Peter still lives a double life, Peter Parker at school, and Spider-Man in the streets, and no matter how dangerous it gets he always uses his powers responsibly. As for Samantha Stark, her and Peter still hang out almost every day after school and even on the weekends. They train with their suits on Saturday at Stark Tower and have dinner with her dad and soon to be stepmom. With the occasional guest appearances from some of the other Avengers, and then on Sunday they have a quiet and more relaxed dinner with May and Ned. Though anytime she left the house it had to be in disguise, as many people wondered who Tony Stark's mysterious daughter was. Papers from The New York Times to The Daily Bugle published pieces asking the question, "Who is Samantha Stark?" They all speculated whether it was adoption, one night stands, or a secret Ex- wife. The Onion even published an article online, suggesting that Tony made her in a lab, but Sam had hoped no one really believed that theory. But all questions would be answered today in an old fashioned press conference. Sam paced her room nervously, she could see a floor of people trying to make their way into the tower for her interview. She looked at the picture of her mom tapped to her mirror and asked her for guidance. “I'm gonna be honest nothing can prepare you for that storm of ignorance down there,“ Tony said, standing in the doorway of Sam's bedroom. Sam turned around and ran into his arms for a hug. Pulling away Sam said, “I just don't know what their going to ask me and how to not come off as nervous.” Sam crossed her room and sat at her desk. Tony followed after her, and knelt in front of her as she sat in her chair. “You'll know when you get down there, if it gets to be too much I will escort you out, and make up some fun fake story about wedding planning to make the crowd happy.” Sam smiled slightly back at Tony who was grinning from ear to ear. “You can tell them the whole truth, half of the truth, or you can go with my personal favorite, which is you're a cyborg that I made down stairs.” Tony said. Sam laughed loudly. Tony looked on her desk and notice that the folder was sitting in the exact spot it had been a month ago, with things now piled on top of it. “You can even bring this if you want to,” Tony said grimly, pointing to the folder.  He wasn't a fan of that option at all, but still providing it to his daughter. Sam stared back in thought. Had she have been given this option a month ago she probably would have done just that. But truth be told Sam hadn't thought about that folder once since prom night. She had been too wrapped up in watching her dad become someone's fiance, and welcoming in Pepper as her mom. She'd had the time to move on from her emotional and physical wounds. She was over all of it, and she used that time to get better at flying and proving to Peter she was a better shot. She spent her time counting the many hugs May had given her, and the many rounds of Rocket League she had humorously lost to Ned in, and possibly her favorite thing she had spent more time on than worrying about that folder, was being in love with Peter and his perfect sweet soul. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about how her life had changed and how she thought it had taken such a bad turn, but now she saw the beauty in everything. “You know I was thinking a lot about this folder,” Sam said, pulling it out from under all the junk that piled on top of it. “And it doesn't matter,” she said. Tony stared back at her with a confused look on his face. “What?” Sam smiled and looked at her dad. “It doesn't matter. Papers don't matter. The past doesn't matter. Even blood doesn't matter. There's only one thing that does matter.” Tony was caught off guard by how much older Sam sounded as she spoke. “Love.” Tony allowed for a tear to fall down his face. “And I love you big time old man,” Sam said, breaking the tension causing Tony to laugh. “That's why I haven't read it, or even opened it for that matter, and I'm not going to." Sam said, handing the folder back to Tony. “Are you sure?” Tony stammered out, shocked by the revelation Sam had come to. "The only thing I was sure of in the face of evil while in that warehouse, was the fact you were my dad, and nothing can change that,” Sam smiled at Tony who was attempting to hold everything back. He smiled and could only say "Wow," as he watched the tears fall down Sams face as she smiled back at him. “I uh,” Tony stammered out, standing up to walk away. Once he reached the door, he turned back to her folder in hand and said, “I love you munchkin, you're the best.” Sam smiled, "I know." And he left and closed the door. She got up and looked in her mirror one last time. Her outfit was put together by Pepper. It was a Stark Industries shirt, paired with a black skirt and black knee high socks and some classic vans. It was very PR, yet still her aesthetic. She smiled, took a deep breath, and walked out of her room and downstairs, and got into the elevator. Once downstairs she got lined up with her father in front of her and Pepper behind her. Walking into the conference room Sam felt numb with nerves about what to say and do. She tried to smile as much as possible, but on the inside she was screaming as they all three took their seats at the long table before them. Tony held his hand up, indicating that all the reporters become quiet for a moment so he could speak. "Welcome everyone, to Stark Tower, and to my family. The beautiful girl sitting beside me is in fact my daughter Samantha, and she will be answering a few of your questions today." Tony looked to Sam as he moved his head away from the mic, as if to tell her the floor was all hers. "He-hello," Sam said sweetly and nervously into the mic. "I am Samantha Rose Stark, and I am the one and only child of Tony Stark, and owner of that badass black and silver suit you all caught me in," the reporters laughed as Sam spoke. Even Tony smiled, watching Sam become less nervous as she spoke. "Many of you know the old man sitting beside me, sorry about that," Sam paused to allow the crowd to laugh once more before speaking again. "But many of you don't know me." Sam went on to tell her life story, not the real one she just learned, the one she grew up knowing. Although it was mostly a lie, it was the story she chose to remember as her life. Letting the good outway the bad. She looked to the crowd after having finished, and saw that many of them were shell shocked by hearing Tony had hid his child for her safety for so long, and some were even wiping what Sam assumed to be tears from their faces. "So now that you all know that I'm not a robot, I will be answering only three questions. I have chores to do." The crowd laughed only for a moment, before many people started to raise their hands. Sam randomly pointed at one guy who promptly asked "So what's the likelihood of you becoming a superhero like your father?"  Sam couldn't help but laugh out loud at this question. "Well, I suppose now that I saved his life he has to let me be one now, right?" Sam said looking over to Tony who smiled and said into the mic, "If she cleans her room first." The crowd went wild once again, first with laughter then with mumbling chatter, and hands high in the air. "Will we start seeing you at events, such as check signings and the expo?" Sam and Tony had already discussed that now that the cat was out of the bag that she could start attending with him as well as Pepper. "Every Stark event will now be a family event, so yes, you guys will be seeing more of me. One more question," Sam said, pointing to a random guy who she immediately recognized as Jonah Jameson of The Daily Bugle. "What about Spider-Man? We all saw the pictures of him at the warehouse, fighting with you and your dad, and that suit has to be a Stark original who is the wall crawler?" Sam looked to Tony and immediately came up with a response. "We don't know who the Spider-Man is. His suit is not a Stark original, despite everyone thinking so. If I had to take a guess, I would say that Spidey is just a smart kid trying to keep his neighborhood safe, and I am very grateful for his help that night." Sam smiled to Jonah who frowned, not getting the answer he wanted. "Thank you for your time," Sam said getting up to hug her dad and Pepper before being escorted out of the room by Happy. "You did great you know?" Happy said to her, riding the elevator back up to the living room. "Thanks Happy," Sam extended out her fist to give Happy a fist bump. Once back to the living room Happy quickly reminded her that her dad wanted her back by seven. Sam smiled and ran up to her room seeing that Peter was sitting on her window pane waiting for her. "Woah, it's THE Samantha Stark, can I get an autograph," Peter jokingly said, holding onto his Spidey mask. "Will a kiss work for you," Sam asked walking over to him and planting one on his smiling lips. "So, I was thinking that we could race over to Mr. Delmars, and who ever wins picks desert," Peter said, knowing good and well Sam would win. Sam laughed as Peter stretched the Spidey mask over his face. Sam grabbed her diamond and suited up as well, "Oh you're going down Parker," she immediately took off through her open window, her loving boyfriend closely trailing behind her. As the wind hit her suit she smiled. She had a perfect boyfriend, an awesome Step mother, and the world's best dad. Sam was finally at peace with her world…. Or so she was lead to believe.