The Invisible Coder (Natasha x OC)

Chapter 14- I arrive at home

The clouds were especially hard to find at that time of day.

Not a single one hung in the sky, making me extremely easy to see. I had to go very high in the sky so that people would think that I was an airplane or something.

FRIDAY had locked my fist around my suitcase's handle just in case I fell asleep. This was very useful because that way I could relax my fingers.

I caught a glimpse of my neighborhood and dived, gracefully landing in my fenced-in backyard.

It sure felt good to be home.

Except for the fact that it was about 90 degrees in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and I was in a metal suit.

I quickly unlocked my back door and opened it, rushing inside and pulling off my suit. I immediately ran to my living room and flipped on my AC, sighing at the rush of cool air in my face. I stood there for a minute, enjoying the brush of air before I propped my suit against the wall and grabbed my suit-case, heading up the stairs to my room.

My house was fairly small. The front door led to the living room, which was connected to the kitchen and the dining room. On the wall of the living room was a small staircase, which led up to a rectangular hallway that held my room, a bathroom, my parent's room, and my office.

I dropped my suitcase in my room and quickly used the bathroom. It had been quite the flight. After I was done, I took a shower, trying to clean myself up to the best of my ability before wrapping a towel around myself and heading to my room and pulling on a sweatshirt and jeans. I had missed being a normal person. I remembered the letter in my other pants and pulled it out before I threw my dirty clothes in the washing machine. I tucked the letter away in my pocket again.

Then, I unpacked my suit-case and tossed it onto my bed, heading back downstairs. With nothing better to do, I flipped on the TV and watched the news.

"There have been a string of crimes throughout the nation," said the newsperson. "Each one involving stealing strange materials from scientific labs. We asked some people what their thoughts were on this matter-"

I switched the channel, trying to find something interesting. Finally, I found an interview with none other than Pepper Potts. It appeared to be a repeat from the day before, but I still watched it, nevertheless.

"So, Ms. Potts, now that we've covered business, we have a few of the "media's most searched questions". Care to answer a few?" asked the host.

"Sure, of course," Pepper replied with a smile.

"Here's our first: Is Pepper Potts a millionaire?"

"As of now...yes, I guess I have become a millionaire, living with Tony Stark,"

"And do you enjoy being that rich?"

"Well... it has its benefits, I suppose,"

"Our second question: Is Pepper Potts a mother?"

Pepper smiled. "Technically, yes, I am,"

"Really?" asked the host.

"Yes, Tony adopted a young adult female, and she's a brilliant girl, honestly,"

"What's her name?"

"Bryce. I'm pretty sure she goes by Bryce Russell-Stark, now... or Bryce Stark-Russell. I'm not sure which one. Maybe she'll choose to just be Bryce Stark,"

"And what are your thoughts about her?"

Pepper sighed. "I don't know. It's different because she's an adult. Tony just thought that she deserved someone to look up to, but I pretty sure he just realized that he needed to accept responsibility in his life,"

"Was that the only reason he took in this particular girl?" the host seemed extremely intrigued.

"No, it also involved some sort of dare or bet with Steve Rogers,"

"Steve Rogers! Care to explain?"

"Well, you know how we have our new recruit, Ava? He knew that Steve was thinking about taking her in because of what happened a couple of years ago with her father, so Tony told Steve to go ahead and adopt her. Steve replied as a joke, 'after you adopt Bryce'. Since Tony was already looking into it, he accepted it as a challenge, and both followed through with the adoptions. Of course, that's not what he'd tell you. He'd say it was all a dare,"

The host laughed. "Of course he would. Now, on with the next question..."

I turned off my TV and slouched back against the couch. I almost wanted to call Ava, just to talk, but then I remembered why I had blocked her. If I called her, Tony would know where I was because of the cellular signal, and... well, we couldn't have that. 

I closed my eyes, trying to feel at home. 

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but feel like I was in the wrong place.

Oh well. I'd get used to it.

I curled up in a ball and let myself drift into sleep.