Chapter Text
Maggie was given the all-clear by Doctor Strange and was handed a note from Coulson that he would meet her to debrief her at a later date since he had to leave suddenly. Happy helped her gather her things and then she was wheeled to the lobby, loaded into the Audi, and they were driven to the airport.
The flight back Maggie spent napping with Peter curled up with her on the large couch as Tony kept watch across from them. He spent some of the time answering emails before video conferencing with Pepper and Rhodey, who had just finished their last meeting at the Pentagon. The military had approved the manufacture of the new Jericho Missiles but wanted a demonstration from SI before purchasing them for active warfare. They had requested Tony for the demo in Afghanistan but he vehemently refused. He was not leaving Peter! Peter wasn’t handling the kidnapping well and until his kid was in a better mental state, he would be home every night. As they continued to argue with him, he lost his temper, “Peter was kidnapped 24 hours ago! Get Obi to do it!”
“But Stane doesn’t know all the technical part-“
“I’m sorry, Rhodey, but can we talk about this later? I need some time,” Tony said heavily as he rubbed his dry eyes and prayed that his migraine would go away.
“Of course, Tones,” Rhodey soothed, “Pepper and I will get all the information together on when and where they want the demonstration and we’ll meet you at home tomorrow. Get some rest and text us when you get home, OK?”
Tony nodded, thanked them both, and signed off. He set the laptop down, grabbed a blanket, and reclined the chair so he could try and take a nap. After a few minutes, Peter climbed up on him, and he was finally able to sleep.
****
The next few days Peter spent the daytime clutching Maggie and the nights sleeping with Tony. He cried easily and couldn’t bear being alone. Thankfully Pepper had made sure that Maggie’s apartment was finished so the poor kid didn’t have to deal with Maggie leaving the mansion each night.
In Tony’s free time, when Peter was with Maggie, he did some investigating. He knew that he was being a stupid paranoid idiot, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to let it go. So when JARVIS came back with the results, he was surprisingly disappointed.
“Sir?”
“Yeah, J?”
“Maybe you should tell Ms. Maggie about this,” JARVIS said reproachfully, he had been against the tests.
“Why? I knew that this was going to be the result, I just needed reassurance.”
“Well, Family isn't always blood, it's the people in your life who want you in theirs: the ones who accept you for who you are, the ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.”
“Quoting Maya Angelou, JARVIS?” Tony sighed before acceding, “and you’re right. Rhodey is a good example and I would probably have to throw May and Ben in there too…”
“Of course I’m right, Sir.”
“Sure… rub it in,” Tony muttered as he rolled his eyes and went to go find Maggie.
******
Maggie was sitting on her couch with Peter asleep with his head in her lap, as she read a book while enjoying the sunshine from the floor to ceiling windows when Tony came in. The apartment had two entrances, one along the side of the house and another that led into the mansion’s kitchen through the pantry. It was discrete but helpful, especially since Peter was quickly learning to enjoy spending time in both homes.
Tony smiled down at his sleeping son as he sat in the Scandinavian chair across from her before he suddenly looked anxious and pulled at his hair. “OK, this is going to sound crazy… “
“Ok…?” Maggie smiled softly at him, trying to encourage him to continue.
“I kinda did a DNA test to see if you were my long-lost sister.”
“What? Why?" Maggie whisper shouted, trying to not wake up Peter, the poor kid had been having nightmares since he had been taken. Tony looked guilty as picked up and fiddled with Peter’s matchbox car and avoided looking her in the eye. After a minute with no answer, she got impatient. "Wait! I’m not, right?” A bit of panic ran through her at the possibility. There was no way she could be the long-lost sister of Tony Stark, it would be ridiculous!
He chuckled awkwardly before setting the toy down on the glass coffee table and looking her in the eye, “no, you’re not. You do kinda look like you could be though.”
“Tony, lots of people look like they could be-” She hissed.
“I know, I know…” He grinned at her, guilt gone and his amusement lighting up his face, it was the happiest she had seen him in days.
She grinned at him, he was such a goof. She shook her head and ran her fingers through Peter’s hair before she teased him, “I love you too, you know.”
“Yeah?” He looked suddenly uncertain.
“Yeah, as a brother,” she stressed because imagining Tony that way was just…. NO. Maggie had never found anyone interesting romantically in her life (that she remembered) and she had no plans of ever getting involved in a romantic relationship. “You’re like that older brother I never had that never wanted to grow up but then did because he found out he was a dad.” He grinned at her before she gave him a sly smirk, “does this mean that Rhodey is my long-lost brother, too?”
He laughed and nodded, “yup! And Happy too, can’t forget about Happy.”
Maggie laughed softly, careful to not disturb Peter. “He’s like the grumpy brother…. Grumpy Bear to go along with Rhodey Bear?”
Tony laughed loudly, as he woke Peter in his amusement.
“Whaa..?”
“It’s ok, Peter, your dad is just happy over a joke I just told him.”
“Mmmm, ok. Love you,” the boy mumbled as he cuddled closer to her and went back to sleep.
“Love you too,” Tony and Maggie said as they smothered their laughter.
*********
It had taken his SHIELD team three days to get the investigation organized enough for him to be able to go to California to have the meeting with Ms. Skold. He called and arranged the meeting through Ms. Potts to speak with Ms. Skold at Mr. Stark's home for the next day. So later that day, Coulson was finishing packing his suitcase, when he heard a knock on his apartment door. Only three people knew his address, two of them were out of the country, and the other had a meeting with the World Security Council. He pulled his gun out and released the safety before creeping over to the door and peering through the peephole. A young woman with dark hair, a familiar leather jacket, large sunglasses, and an oversized purse was standing in front of the door, snapping a large amount of gum, waved at him. He rolled his eyes, re-holstered his gun, and let her in.
“I should ask you how you found out where I lived, but that would waste both our times,” Coulson muttered as he moved towards his room to finish packing.
“I agree,” Romanoff said matter-of-factly as she snapped her gum and set her large purse down on his kitchen island before following after him. The expensive wig was left on but the sunglasses were tossed on top of the bag.
“What do I owe the pleasure?” Phil said off handily as he continued to roll his clothes and pack his overnight bag. He knew that Natasha had a reason for being here, she never did anything without a one, Clint, however...
“You are going to see Ms. Skold,” she stated before sitting down on the bed next to his bag. Of course, she knew where he was going, the woman was able to pull information out easier than Fury could win a pirate costume contest.
“And…?” Phil refused to play into her manipulation, which always made her happy for some reason. Probably because he was one of the few that could resist it.
“I need you to give her this,” Natasha held up a plain business card with a number on it.
“Why?”
Nat sighed, rolled her eyes, and flopped backward on his bed. If he didn’t know that her hair was actually a wig, he never would have suspected since it acted like it was her real hair. “I’m curious to see if what I suspect is true or not. I have some time off and I plan on using it to make a new friend who has similar interests to me. Isn’t that how you make a friend?” She looked up at him and grinned mischievously, “You and Birdbrain have both told me that I needed more friends...”
“When we said that we meant within SHIELD,” Coulson sighed and tucked the last perfectly rolled shirt into his bag and zipped it closed. “We didn’t mean that you should make friends with key witnesses in high-profile kidnapping cases.”
“Eh, to-mayto, to-mahto. She’s interesting, we’re close in age, and I think it’ll be fun either way.”
“Fine.” Phil huffed in irritation and sat on the edge of the bed to pull his shoes on. “When this backfires, it’s on you and I knew nothing about it. You will have to deal with Fury and his fury over you interfering in a SHIELD investigation.”
“Aww, you made a pun.” She grinned up at him, he had no idea where this playful Natasha came from. She was probably spending way too much time with Clint and it was rubbing off on her.
“Keep me updated and no Clint. The last time you two got involved in something together without oversight, you two started a fire in Budapest’s Inner City and blew out a quarter of the windows in the Hungarian Parliament Building.”
“Of course I won’t involve Birdbrain, she’s been traumatized enough.” Nat rolled her eyes as she sat up and leaned back on her hands.
Phil shook his head, stood, and pulled on his suit coat. “Well since you’re here, you’re driving me to the airport.”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Natasha said innocently as she rolled off the bed and grabbed his carry-on. She strode through to the kitchen, put on her sunglasses, grabbed her purse, and pushed him out the door. “You wouldn’t make it in time and I brought Fury’s Porsche.”
“So I’m your patsy, then?”
“No, that’s Clint. You’re my enabler since you told me about Fury’s Porsche,” Nat grinned at him as she put the bag in the trunk under the hood and they got into the vintage, black 1987 Porsche 911. Natasha had a problem with ‘borrowing’ cars from SHIELD’s parking garage.
“Right…” Coulson sighed, rolled his eyes, and decided that he would deal with it when he got back from California in two days.
****
Phil landed in California late that evening and checked into one of the hotels near the airport for the night so he could get up early and rent a car for his 11 AM meeting with Ms. Skold. The meeting was necessary for SHIELD’s files but he also wanted a baseline for his file that he and Natasha had started on her. Since she had flown under SHIELD’s radar so easily, despite her previous history, Phil wanted to keep a closer eye on her since she was now involved with the Starks. All of Stark’s personal staff had SHIELD files on them, such as Ms. Potts and Mr. Hogan, so this was nothing out of the ordinary but Coulson just wanted some more information before he approached Fury with Natasha’s theory of Ms. Skold being a well-trained plant.
The next morning Coulson arrived early at Stark’s Malibu home, was greeted outside the front door of the mansion by Mr. Hogan before being escorted to Ms. Skold’s private entrance around the side of the building.
“Mr. Stark and Maggie both thought that it would be better than you weren’t in the main house. Ms. Potts and Maggie are waiting for you in Maggie’s apartment.”
Phil wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t allowed into the main house since Stark’s paranoia had ratcheted up since the kidnapping of his son, what did surprise him was that Ms. Skold had a private apartment in Stark’s home. Howard Stark had always had live-in staff but his son hadn’t had any since Mr. Jarvis’s passing in the late ’90s. Perhaps it was a temporary arrangement since Ms. Skold was injured and needed some care, Phil mused to himself as he followed after the bodyguard.
As Phil was led around the side of the mansion towards a midcentury modern door with strips of horizontal frosted glass set in golden-colored wood. To the left of the door was a small brass plaque stating The Jarvis's and under it was a large concrete planter filled with sunburst-colored begonias. Mr. Hogan approached the door, waved a card over the handle, and entered into a small entryway with a four-foot bench and coat rack above it on the wall. Across from it was a small entry table with a vase of orange roses, a bowl with car keys, and a small tiffany lamp, above it was a large sunburst mirror. Mr. Hogan closed the door and led Phil past an archway into an open kitchen on one side and a small powder room on the other before passing into an open living area. The outside wall was floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the ocean that faced a long kitchen island that divided the kitchen from the dining table that sat eight. An L-shaped charcoal gray sofa to his left faced the windows with a large glass coffee table filled with small sandwiches and a tea set. Seated on the couch was Ms. Skold with Ms. Potts standing in front of her and they appeared to be arguing.
Ms. Potts was wearing a knee length pencil skirt and silk blouse in a subtle cream color with nude pumps and a slim gold lady’s watch. She had gold studs in her ears with a matching clip holding up her strawberry blond hair. Ms. Skold was wearing a sleeveless A-line dress in a light teal with no shoes on, revealing nails painted in a dark green. She also wore gold stud earrings and watch but there was an antique gold bangle around her wrist. Her dark hair was pulled partially back with a metal barrette and the rest fell in waves to her mid back.
“You have to wear shoes, Maggie.”
“No, Pepper. It’s my apartment until June and if you want me to wear shoes, then we move the interview to Tony’s living room or SI. I’m traumatized enough that you got me into this dress with full makeup and jewelry, I’m drawing the line at shoes.” Ms. Skold said jokingly with a sly grin on her face as she sipped a large glass of iced coffee. “Sit. Relax. Happy will be here soon with Agent.”
“Maggie-“
“Speak of the devil, Pepper, it’s Agent Coulson,” Ms. Skold interrupted Ms. Potts when she spotted him and Mr. Hogan at the doorway of the living room. “Please come sit and have something to eat. Is tea ok? Or would you like something else?”
Phil approached the ladies and sat down across from them in the Scandinavian chair with cerulean blue cushions. The whole apartment was decorated in an updated mid-century modern design with teal, cream, dark gray, and gold with a bit of burnt orange. Very expensive and very tasteful except for the purple platypus toy that lay next to Ms. Skold.
She noticed his gaze and smiled at him, “Peter lent him to me for moral support.”
“That was very kind of him,” Phil replied before nodding towards the food, “I’ll take some tea, please, with a little milk.”
Ms. Potts settled next to Ms. Skold as she started to prepare his tea. She poured tea elegantly as if she was tutored by the staunchest British aristocrat, before standing gracefully and handing him the cup and saucer. He murmured his thanks as he sipped and then set it down so he could pull out his notebook and pen. She prepared Ms. Potts a cup and to his surprise, Mr. Hogan even took one before he sat on Ms. Skold’s other side.
“So, Ms. Skold, please walk me through the day you and Peter Stark were taken till you were rescued…”
The debriefing went well, Maggie had a good memory for detail and told him a few details that he would need to investigate. Ms. Potts and Mr. Hogan kept mostly silent through the whole thing and only murmured reassurances when she got upset. Other than those few instances, Ms. Skold was poised and stoic for most of the interview.
“One more question before I leave,” Phil stated as he slipped his notebook back into his jacket pocket, “do you have any memories from before you were found by your adopted parents?”
Silence filled the room as the three Stark employees stared at him with three different looks of disbelief. Ms. Potts was outraged, Mr. Hogan was furious, and Ms. Skold was piqued. A few minutes passed as the grandfather clock in the corner ticked away the seconds as the other two waited for Ms. Skold to reply.
“I remember flashes…” Ms. Skold said softly before she suddenly gripped Ms. Pott’s hand and Mr. Hogan put his arm around her, the two older employees glared at him.
“Such as?”
“I’m not sure….” She looked between the two people next to her before focusing on his face. “They’re fantastical and completely unbelievable and I doubt that any of them are actual memories. My therapist said that perhaps a few of the elements are real but the rest is just my mind trying to process a harsh and traumatic upbringing.” Ms. Skold paused and closed her eyes as she appeared to try and focus her thoughts. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and focused on him again, “I would describe them as a combination of a Little House on the Prairie episode with flashes of medieval battles and unrealistic gardens. So I’m not sure how real it is,” she smiled sadly at him, “especially since I was diagnosed with false memory syndrome or paramnesia...”
“Is there anything else, Agent Coulsen?” Ms. Potts interrupted firmly as she glared at him in anger as she continued to hold Ms. Skold’s hand and Mr. Hogan scowled at him as they tried to protect the girl.
Phill stood and handed Maggie the card from Natasha, ignoring Ms. Potts's comment. “Nat asked me to give you her phone number, she's offering to show you a few more self-defense moves and some more in-depth weapons training, if you're interested. If not, she said she wouldn’t mind just grabbing some lunch or coffee instead.”
Ms. Skold nodded to him as she inspected the offered card and Mr. Hogan got up to escort him out, the door locking by itself as they left.
Phil got into the rental car and drove back to the airport, spending the whole trip wondering if Nat was on to something with her theory. Ms. Skold's memories were as spotty as the former Russian spy’s...
**************
Life after that seemed to settle back into their usual routine. Tony went to work, Pepper bossed them all around, Happy worried, and Maggie made sure everyone was fed and taken care of.
Rhodey spent hours talking and persuading Tony to go to Afghanistan to demonstrate the new missile and Tony spent just as much time telling him no.
But after a few months of Peter in therapy, Tony finally gave in.
Maggie and Happy agreed to watch Peter for the three days while he went overseas with Rhodey to do the demo.
He'd go there, do some fancy demo and then come home... What could go wrong?
Two months later, Tony disappeared in the Afghan desert.