Civil War: Rewritten

Chapter 21: The Surprise, AI, and Heart-To-Heart

"Nat, that alright?" Tony turned to her to confirm. "We were in the middle of Charlotte's Web, which if you ask me is a cinematic masterpiece and-"

"It's okay," Natasha stifled a laugh. "Teach the Spider-Child."

"I'm Spider-MAN!" Peter pouted as Natasha turned to leave, who was tearing up from holding in a laugh.

"Alright, let's get started," Tony opened up a hologram. "First, off, we need a name."

"That's the FIRST step?" Peter looked at Tony's hologram.

"Yeah," Tony began scrolling through his coding program. "So, what will it be?"

"Hm," Peter began to think. "Karen."

"Like Plankton's computer?" Tony pointed to the hologram, indicating that Peter should type it in. "Fitting, because you're short."

"Wow, thanks," Peter gave him a look. "You're 5'9", though."

"Yeah, well, whatever," Tony shrugged. "Now for the first code. We want Karen to be like FRIDAY, so we want to program Karen to be able to interact like a human because it's more fun that way. So, what we need to do is-"

For the next hour and a half, Tony verbally taught Peter what to do but once it was time for him to actually begin inputting the codes, Tony let Peter do trial and error by himself. He was having a lot of fun with it and was able to do most of the codes on the first try. Meanwhile, Tony was upgrading and reactivating FRIDAY because he needed to input it in Natasha's suit and also he developed new codes for it.

"I think I'm done!" Peter stepped away from the hologram and looked up. "Holy crap, my eyes are dead after staring at that thing for so long."

"Happens to me all the time," Tony looked over Peter's shoulder and double checked his codes. "Looks good. Are you ready to save and activate?"

Without a word, Peter hit one last button. "Hello? Karen?"

"Hello. I am Karen. What should I call you?"

"Uh, Peter Parker."

"Hello, Peter Parker."

"What is the weather like today?"

"Today, in upstate New York, it is about 15 degrees Fahrenheit and -9.4 degrees Celsius. There is a 75% chance of snow within the next hour."

"Holy shit!" Peter's jaw dropped. "It works!"

"Language, Peter," Karen calmly said.

Tony began to chuckle as he watched Peter's face twist in confusion. "What? It's funny?"

"Yeah, yeah, so funny," Peter smiled. "How do I get her in my suit and phone and everything?"

"I'll show you," Tony moved to the hologram again. "Just press this Square-Arrow icon, and all your stuff should pop up."

Within a few seconds, Karen was installed in Peter's phone, his suit, and even his computer.

"This is insane," Peter said in disbelief. "Thanks again, Mr. Stark."

"Course," Tony fondly smiled. "It's getting late, Underoos, go home."

"Aw, really?" Peter complained.

"Yes," Tony reiterated. "You have school tomorrow."

"You've really been sounding like a dad recently," Peter pointed out.

"I-" Tony began.

"Bye, Mr. Stark!" Peter quickly grabbed his bag and headed out. "See you later!"

Tony shook his head in shock at what Peter said. Once he recovered, "FRI, where's Nat?"

"She is up on the roof," the AI responded.

"What the f#ck?" Tony thought out loud. However, he decided to grab a jacket as he went to go join her.

Meanwhile, Natasha had been sitting on the roof, listening to music. She was wearing a sweatshirt and had a thermos of hot chocolate.

"Hey, uh Agent Romanoff, I'm not sure if you're aware but it's f#cking January in New York, so want to come in?" Tony shivered as he sat next to her.

"I'm Russian," Natasha deadpanned as she took a sip of hot chocolate.

"I'm sure you were wearing more than a sweatshirt when it's like 15 degrees out, though," Tony took off his jacket and handed it to her.

"Not exactly," Natasha mumbled.

"Come again?" Tony gently said.

"There was a time when I was forced to stand in the cold with nothing but my nightgown," Natasha's eyes shone a little bit. "I was about 8."

Tony took a deep breath, trying to contain his emotions and control his growing anger. How could anyone think that this was okay?

"It was punishment because I wasn't performing my best," Natasha sighed.

"I-I'm sorry," Tony managed to choke out, not sure how to respond.

"I deserved it," Natasha's voice cracked.

"What?" Tony said in disbelief. "No, no, no, Natasha. You certainly didn't. You were a kid and-"

"A kid with multiple murders under her belt by then," Natasha gripped her thermos tightly.

"Natasha," Tony sighed.

"No, Tony," Natasha cut in. "I did deserve it. I listened to those b@stards and killed innocent people. I like to pretend I'm finally above it all and I pretend that I've done good for this world. I don't deserve any mercy or goodness. Why are you nice to me? Why did you build me that suit? Why do you even allow me to be around you? Or Peter? I don't get-"

"Natasha," Tony interrupted. "Stop. You do deserve goodness and love. You were a child forced to do all of those things against your will. You were a child that went through some of the worst trauma that exists and saw some of the worst evils of society and humanity. Nobody deserved that, or any of the treatment. And guess what? I like being around you. Peter likes being around you. You have proved to be a heartful, kind, and caring person."

"But-"

"Nope, not taking any arguments," Tony cut her off again. "C'mon Nat, let's go inside."

Tony stood up and held out his hand for Natasha to take it. Once she did and stood up, Tony pulled her into a hug. Once they broke the hug, Tony put his arm around his shoulder and Natasha rested her head on it.

"And you deserve to be happy."

IF ANYONE HAS SEEN WANDAVISION DM MEEEEEE