Stark's Daughter

Learning a Lot

Today was the day that Sage, Pepper, and Tony were going on little outings. Tony had researched everything about typical teenagers, only to discover many, many doctors obviously had never been a teenager once in their life, shooting up to an adult from twelve years old. I mean, seriously? One quack doctor suggested medicine to help control your kid basically!

"You feeling okay?" Pepper asked, hand on Tony's shoulder.

"I feel worse than when I had to fight Loki, or when I almost died because of someone not installing the arc reactor properly." He meant the last one as a joke as Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Stop with that. That excuse is so overused by you." Both were in silence for a few moments, thinking about the new daughter. Maybe she wouldn't be nice; maybe she would get tons of face piercings and blast music and get a really bad boyfriend and say "oh my god, you just don't understand my life!" phrase over and over. Both of them were hoping that wasn't the case. Because if it was, it would take an army to make her all respectful again.

It was any minute now that she could come in, and they were both excited.

Sage was wondering what it would be like to live with her new father. She felt uncomfortable not calling Nick Fury, well, dad. He had been there when she had first confidently walked across the room and almost set off his hand grenade; and when she was five, scaling the rock wall.

Sage entered through the elevator doors, looking at the nervously smiling faces of Tony and Pepper.

"Hi," she said, a bit quiet as she approached them. "I have no idea what to do." They both laughed, turning it into awkward silence. It was tense, a bit, before Tony and Sage faced each other, sitting on a couch. Pepper had suggested asking questions, as well as writing down answers.

"Favorite food?" Pepper asked, adding that hers was blueberries.

"Hmm, can I choose the option of everything?" Sage asked, as Pepper shook her head. "But Pepppppeeeeerrrrrr..." her little whining voice was just as exact as her father's as Pepper turned towards Tony.

"Well, I don't know how, but she so learned that from you."

"But, no offense, I haven't even met her before Shield!" Sage laughed, pointing towards the huge plasma.

"TV itself has been a huge help, my father of mine." Tony's heart beat a little quicker as his brain processed the information. She had called him her father.

"Well, since I've missed numerous birthdays and I still need to know when yours is, we are going shopping for whatever you want," Tony said as they all got into his huge car he had bought a while back. He figured he should have a bigger car, just in case he had to drive any Avenger from bailing out of jail (Thor did not yet perceive some earth 21st century mannerisms and was still prone to scream "anotha!" if he wanted something.)

The mall was huge as Pepper had said she would be in the café, leaving Tony and Sage with maniacal grins. They both had always wanted to do a sport of sorts, called tag in most cases. In a Shield born baby and a snarky millionaire Stark, it was called tail the relative.

Tony was up first in being the victim, which he was surprisingly good at being. He talked with other people, and went in stores you would most likely not find him in. Sage did have a challenge.

As he was walking out of the children's bookstore, confident she hadn't found him, there she was to prove him wrong.

"Aw, those books for me? You shouldn't have," she said, signature Stark smirk pasted on. "Your move, old man."

He counted back from ten, opening his eyes to see as to where she had gone. And there she was. She was sitting by a fountain, slowly checking her surroundings. As he neared to tag her, a huge janitorial cart passed as she crouched low and went into it, rolling out the other side. Tony, of course, had no idea where she had gone.

He then caught sight of her walking into a clothing store, and he ran after her. She had disappeared within it, as he looked with disbelief at her.

"What? How?" He asked, looking at his daughter with confusion.

"Shield teaches you a lot of tricks if you want to prank Agent Barton," she stated, grinning as she pulled out his credit card. "Including pickpocketing." She ran through stores, analyzing what she needed for her birthday presents accumulated.

"So, what do you do for fun?" Tony asked, holding a bag full of lounge pants and sweatshirts, all in men's sizes. She was a strange girl, he decided. But he liked it that way.

"Read, write, try to photo bomb pictures, prank, ruin reputations at Shield for the newbies, as well as eat and sleep. No nail polish or shoe obsession for me, thank you very much." They walked in comfortable silence, meeting Pepper outside of a popular store to shop at. Which Sage was worried about.

"Hello Sage! I picked out some clothes for you to wear!" Pepper said, excitedly holding out the bags.

"I don't like being handed things," she protested, as she peered inside the bag. There was a pink dress. Pink. There were many facts on why she hated pink. Millie, from preschool, had played with a Barbie that was dressed from head to toe in pink. Millie was a brat. All of the girls at the short lived "highschool experience" wore pink miniskirts, had pink bags, and pink phone cases. It got worse quite progressively on Wednesday.

"Please tell me you did not buy that for me," Sage pleaded as Pepper nodded her head.

"Mmhmm, I thought it would look cute!" She protested, putting it up to Sage's small frame. "Tony, doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," he said offhandedly, checking out his competition at the Apple store. "The other girls don't hold a candle to you, Sage."

"I don't 'do' cute. I wear nice slacks, a blouse, and a blazer. Heels, only if they have mini knives in them or any other weapon besides grenades, as those would be Hill's department. But pink dresses? Leave those to the prom obsessed slaves," Sage said, as they walked out of the malls.

"Well, you'll have to wear a dress eventually. Tony or I will make you," Pepper said logically, fixing her bangs.

"And I'm sure you will. Even dad couldn't get me to," she said as Tony's head popped up from his science project on his phone, or whatever he had been working on.

"I haven't even attempted to yet," he said, surprised look.

"Other dad," Sage said. She figured she would just say dad about both of them. Tony was her father just as much as Fury was. Both had blackmail on her as well.

"Well, it will be a pleasure seeing you soon, dear daughter of mine," Tony said as they arrived at the house. "I have to go to the lab, testing out a new doohickey for the suits," he explained, patting her head and saluting Pepper, leaving.

"Well, Sage Rosalie, I believe it is time for some girl talk," Pepper said with a grin as Sage paled.

"Pepper, I believe I've already had this sort of talk done awkwardly by a school, if I may just skip out of it-" she was interrupted.

"For being Tony Stark's daughter, you are ignorant of the English language. Girl talk, as in makeup, boys, shoes, which Avenger is cutest, that sort of thing." Sage rolled her eyes, as Pepper grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you taking me to? I don't even want to do this," Sage protested as Pepper clamped a hand over Sage's mouth.

"Shush, I have Cosmic Brownies," Pepper argued. "Little Debbie brand."

"Oh crap, you should've mentioned that first. I'm in."