Tony: I sat in the middle of my room, with JARVIS pulled up, looking at old pictures. One came up, one taken the day Natasha was born. I stared at the picture. Whitney looked so young, and I had my old spike in my hair. We both looked so happy. And I remember being so afraid when Natasha came along. She was so little, so breakable. I moved my hand, flipping to the next picture, a picture of Natasha when she was only two months old. She was laying on her belly in my workshop, and I was oiling Dummy in the background. I looked over at the machine. "You knew her, you know," I said to the machine. He just turned his head a few ways. I rolled my eyes. I heard the door open behind me, and I shut down the pictures.
"Has she come back yet?" Pepper asked. I looked at the clock. It was past 11:30.
"No," I said, shrugging.
"Did she say where she lived?" Pepper asked.
"I think I know, but I'm not driving all the way there," I said. Pepper rolled her eyes.
"She has your car you know," she pointed out.
"Meh," I said, "I never liked that anyway."
That's when the sound of a motor started pulling up to the house. Natasha pulled into the garage. The Mercedes appeared to be in one piece.
"Where have you been?" Pepper asked as she got out.
"I went to get my stuff," Natasha said.
"It's after 11:30," Pepper said.
"I know," Natasha said, "There's a clock in the car. I live north, about 3 and a half hours away. I thought I made good time."
Pepper sighed.
"She's just mad because you missed dinner," I explained. Natasha nodded.
"Sorry, I thought Tony would have told you I would be later than that," Natasha said, shrugging.
"Sure, throw me under the bus," I said as she opened the door to the Mercedes. She pulled out two boxes on top of each other.
"Would you like some help with those?" Pepper asked.
"Yeah," Natasha said.
"Tony," Pepper said, turning to me. I rolled my eyes.
I grabbed a few boxes and started carrying them up. Natasha set them on her floor, then went down for more. This didn't take long. I noticed the sweatshirt she was wearing.
"MIT sweatshirt," I commented.
"My college," Natasha said.
"I thought you were 16?" I asked.
"Oh, I graduated high school when I was, like, 14. I've been going to school there. But I took this year off, to take care of my mom," Natasha said, shrugging. It was unfair she had done that. But it only made me think of Whit, and how she had left her job for Natasha.
"I take it you're a nerd," I said, ignoring my thoughts.
"You're one to talk," Natasha said. I rolled my eyes.
"Listen, I would really like to start unpacking, so good night?" Natasha asked. I nodded.
"Yeah," I said. Natasha nodded, and I left.