We're Not Dead Yet (Split Souls part 2)

26: A Switcheroo

Over the evening, Kat practiced various things with her magic. During a scan of her friends and family, she found Tony still awake. Due to the nature of her scan, she also knew that he wasn't well.

She made her way over to him, slipping into the lab where he was hunkered over another partial Iron Man suit. "Dad?" She inquired, making her presence known as  gently as she could.

His head snapped up. "Oh, Kat, hey. What're you doing up?"

"I don't sleep. But you do. Or you should." Kat said, sitting down on a stool next to him.

Tony sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face. "I've got... Tests. I need to run."

"And they can't wait until after you've slept?" Kat raised an eyebrow.

Tony looked at her, then down at the parts in front of him. He mumbled under his breath, but it was undecipherable.

"Dad?" Kat asked again, and set a hand on his shoulder.

He was silent for a while, and her hand stayed where it was. It was a test of Kat's patience, but she prevailed. "I just have nightmares, that's all."

"Well, that's one of the few things I have very little experience with. Congratulations, I can't help you." Kat said, "But, maybe Percy can."

"He's pretty busy now a days..." Tony trailed off.

"We both know exactly where he'll be tomorrow." Kat replied.

Tony sighed.

"Which is another reason why you should get some sleep tonight." Kat said. "I even have a spell for a very boring sleep."

Tony chuckled lightly under his breath. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

~~~~~~

In the morning, Kat decided to take a shower, because the water felt nice, and was refreshing. But then she caught a glimpse of her hair, and her eyes widened. Her hair was red. She may or may not have briefly shrieked.

She then spent the morning glaring at Loki whenever she saw him as she worked on undoing the magic. Tainting her conditioner, of all things to do. To red. Pink would have been ridiculous, but no, red.

Maybe the other residents of the tower got a kick out of her being agitated like that after the Mayo Incident. 

~~~~~~

Pepper's birthday party wasn't a huge event, but for Tony, it was Pepper's birthday. The guests consisted of some friends of Pepper's, a few close coworkers, Tony, Rhodey, Happy, Natasha, Clint, Steve, Percy, Annabeth, Kat, and Loki. They had also gotten Bucky suited up for the occasion, and the amputee kept close to Steve. 

Another two guests had secretly been invited by Tony. Sally and Paul felt a little out of place among all the social elites, but the surprise was worth it on their kids' faces.

"I didn't know you guys were coming!" Percy grinned, even though he had seen them both earlier that morning.

Kat grinned just the same as her twin, and gave both of them a hug. "It's good to see you again."

People were introduced to each other, as these things happen at parties. Annabeth was a growing architect, and Percy's fiancee. Sally was a published author Pepper and Tony had met, and Paul was her good husband. Bucky was a friend of Steve's, left simply at that because you didn't question Captain America. Loki just introduced himself as 'Loki' in his accent, and that was enough for the other guests.

Percy had followed Annabeth over to Pepper, and tried to keep track of the conversation as best as he could. He was pretty sure Annabeth was making friends and possible business opportunities, but he also wouldn't put it past the very smart looking women to be speaking in code about something else.