chapter twenty two

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THE COMPOUND WAS ASLEEP WHEN JOEY CREPT DOWN TO HER DAD'S LAB.

Joey was not most jarred by the dark hallways on her walk to the lab, but instead by the unusual silence coming from her father's workspace. Dr. Banner had already gone to bed, but when Tony worked alone, he always listened to music. Tonight, there was nothing. The last time the lab was this quiet, Heidi had just gone missing.

A sort of white noise was coming from the electricity of the building and the whirring of gadgets, but the lack of other noise allowed Tony to hear his daughter come inside. He looked over his shoulder at her and glanced at his watch.

"What are you doing down here, J? It's almost two in the morning," he said instead of a greeting. "You should be asleep."

"So should you," Joey countered. Despite his desire to protest, he knew he couldn't fight her on this. She was him, on this. Joey crossed the room, inspecting the equipment around them as she did so.

"What's keeping you up?" He asked as Joey took a seat beside him.

"I don't know." She shrugged. It was true— she didn't know anymore. There were so many things that could have been the cause for her sleeplessness, she stopped trying to figure out which was when. "I just can't sleep. My mind is too..." she gestured with her hands. "I don't know," she repeated. "I've been thinking about Mom a lot today. I think about her so much. I've been texting her every day, but it isn't the same."

"I get it," he agreed. "It isn't the same."

Joey glanced at the clock. Typically, Pepper would have come in and drilled into his head that he needed to go to sleep hours ago.

"What's keeping you up?" She asked him now, looking over the screens around him. Windows upon windows were open, some Joey couldn't even begin to decipher. She was proficient in sciences and robotics, but Stark technology— her father's and grandfather's technology— was still overwhelming if she wasn't in the right headspace.

He sighed. "I've just been reassessing security," he said. "I feel like this is... all I do here, sometimes."

Joey glanced at her father, taken aback by his vulnerability right now. In the last couple of months, she had seen glimpses of her father that she had never seen before in her life. She wasn't sure why— whether it was because she was older now, and he thought she could handle more, or if things were just getting to be too much to hide from his own daughter, or whether it was a combination of both of those possibilities.

"When everything with your mom happened, I had just finished strengthening security and rechecking personnel. And now, I'm back at square one," he went on. "I just keep putting it on the back burner, and I can't anymore. Your safety, your mom's safety; it's too important. I can't keep putting it off."

Joey didn't know how to respond to this. Instead, she let her eyes wander back to the screens around him, searching for something she did understand. She recognized an image of the front of her house— well, the townhouse in Queens.

"And you're working on selling the house," she noticed. Her sadness at the thought surprised her— she knew it was happening, but it seemed so final now. She swallowed.

Tony looked away from his work then, studying Joey's face when he heard her tone. "Yeah," he said. "That, too. I have to have it cleared out, so that all your things can be delivered here, and your mom's things delivered to the Bartons' before we can put it on the market."

Joey nodded. At least there was that: she'd have all her things here. She could really make her room her home.

"It's so weird," Joey mused in the silence. Her voice was low. She was tired.

Tony shook his head— not in disagreement, but disbelief at the entire situation. "I know, kiddo," he replied. Another beat of silence passed. "Has your sleep been pretty bad for a while?" He inquired.

Joey didn't answer. No response at all was better than a shitty lie. Tony looked at her again, and then back at his screen. "I'm taking that as a yes," he said.

Joey rested her head in her hand, elbow on the countertop. "It's fine," she grumbled.

"It's not fine, Joey," he opposed. She always hated it when Tony went all dad mode. He was never in any place to be lecturing her on the things he typically did, and this was no different. She loved him, and for the most part, of course she listened, but, come on.

"You're one to talk," she mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Pep got in my ear about it a few nights ago. Just passing on the wisdom. How long have you been having problems?"

"I haven't been having problems," Joey told him. "It's just been since... everything with Mom."

"That's two months," he scolded. "That's a long time to not be getting good sleep. Especially with the training you do in the morning. It's a safety thing."

"I'm fine," Joey pointed out. By fine, she meant, she was alive.

"I want you to talk to one of the doctors downstairs," he said. "See if they can prescribe you something to help."

Joey couldn't help the face she pulled. "I am not doing that," she mumbled flatly, looking at her dad in disbelief.

"Just talk to them, J," he asked.

She didn't respond. She knew on some level he was serious, but the idea of talking to any of the doctors here about her sleep seemed pointless, not to mention embarrassing.

"Does Pep know you're down here?" She asked, shifting the subject.

"Yeah," he said. "She doesn't like it. But I've got shit to do."

"Maybe you need sleep meds," Joey chided. Tony gave her a look. "See how ridiculous that sounds?" She asked him.

"Point taken," he surrendered.

Joey's eyes felt heavy as she watched the screens around her father move, another silence falling between them. She seriously didn't understand how he wasn't going crazy with no music playing in here— but then, to be perfectly honest, he probably was going crazy.

"I worry about you, J," Tony admitted after a beat. "How you're doing with everything."

Joey opened her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "You? Worry?" She breathed a laugh. "I'm shocked." Then, "You don't need to worry about me. I'm OK."

"You're my little girl," he said softly. "I'll always worry about you. Especially in times like these." He reached over and tousled her hair. "You can always talk to me, duckling. No matter how busy I am. I mean it." Joey nodded.

While she knew he meant it— he would drop everything if Joey told him she needed him, no matter what— she also knew herself. Joey knew Tony would put her before the rest of the world, so she wouldn't let herself be put in that position. In a post-Ultron, peri-HYDRA and, apparently, Phantom Order world, she knew saving the world and keeping the facility that did so running needed to be his first priority.

"You sure you're doing OK?" Tony asked.

Joey hesitated, just briefly, before nodding again. "Yeah. I've been talking to people about it. Claire, Nat. Oddly enough, Bucky..." she trailed off. Pietro. "It's just still fresh. I'm doing as well as I can be, for now."

"That's good," Tony said. "You can always talk to me and Pep, too," he reminded her. "Or, of course, a therapist."

"I know," she acknowledged. That, he was probably right about. If she was going to talk to any doctor, it wasn't a physician. Then, "I worry about you, too, Daddy," she told him.

He shook his head. "You shouldn't," he told her. "It's my job to worry about you. You're my 20-year-old daughter; you shouldn't even think about me," he joked.

Joey rolled her eyes. "You're up at 2:00 AM killing yourself over security," she said. She couldn't help being worried.

He sighed. "That's my job," he claimed.

"Doesn't mean you have to do it at 2:00 AM," she returned. "If only I had a job I could blame my insomnia on," she quipped.

Tony was quiet. He couldn't argue with that; she was right, that was exactly what he was doing. He side-eyed his daughter. Joey yawned in the silence.

He sighed. "You should try and go to sleep," he suggested, reaching over and placing a hand on her back. Joey glared at him, but her lack of energy didn't give the look much power. She sighed, standing.

She went for the door, but when she made it, she said, "You should take a break, Dad."

Tony looked over his shoulder. "I know," he said, even though they both knew he probably wouldn't be sleeping any time soon, either.

"Night," she called.

"Sweet dreams, duckling," he replied. "I love you tons."


***


It was the following night, and to no surprise, Joey was wide awake, again.

Of all her sleepless nights, Joey felt that there were two sides to the coin. There were the tired sleepless nights, where she was exhausted but still couldn't find sleep, like last night— energetic mind, but tired body. And then there were the nights like tonight: her mind wasn't racing as much as usual, but she was still full of energy, physically. Or at least, she told herself she was.

Tonight, she was down in the gym, accompanied by Pietro. She had started off on her own, just between benching and sit-ups on the floor, until he came looking for her— having checked the balcony, and her room, and the den, this was his next stop.

"Well, hello," Pietro greeted, stepping into the gym, careful not to let the door slam shut behind him. His brows were raised at his girlfriend under the barbell, which appeared to have at least 50 pounds of weight on each side. He wasn't surprised she was benching this much, but rather, that she was benching this much at this hour.

Joey replaced the bar above her, sitting up. "'Sup," she said.

Pietro laughed. "'Sup," he repeated, entertained by her word choice. "You know you are benching, what, 145 pounds? At 1:00 in the morning?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, taking a sip from her water bottle.

"OK," he said. "Just checking. Are you OK?"

Joey shrugged. "Just can't sleep. Trying to work off some of my energy."

Pietro looked at her then, getting a read on her. The darkness beneath her eyes didn't really scream energized to him. But this was Joey. Even when she was tired, she never wanted to sleep. When she did want to sleep, she usually couldn't.

"Do you want to spar?" She asked, him standing up. "Since you're down here."

Pietro gave her a look. "I came down here because I couldn't find you upstairs, not because I was interested in sparring."

"Well, you found me," she pointed out. "And now you're here." She grabbed his hand as she leaned up and kissed him quickly on the lips. "Come on," she said, then dragging him over to the sparring ring.

"I am not dressed to spar," he protested, and he wasn't exactly wrong. He was wearing a hoodie and flannel pajama pants.

"It's fine," Joey dismissed. "It's not actual training. And I can go easy on you." She smirked.

He scowled at her as she called back to the first time the two of them had sparred.

"Fine," he relented, kicking off his slippers and stepping up to the ring where Joey was already waiting for him. He couldn't say no to her now if he tried. He was wrapped around her finger, these days.

"Sorry in advance," she teased, squaring up to him.

"What!" He pulled off his sweatshirt, leaving behind a brown tee shirt. He tossed it to the floor, next to his shoes. "You said you were going to go easy."

"I will," she told him. "It doesn't mean I won't still beat you."

Pietro gaped. "You are cocky now," he said.

"You think I'm cocky?" Joey asked. "You should meet my boyfriend."

She threw the first punch, but it was a throwaway move. He blocked her throw easily with his hand, stepping back as they rotated.

"Your boyfriend must be a real pain," he remarked, ducking from another attack.

"Understatement," she replied. Pietro caught her leg as she kicked at him, but she swung him off balance as she freed herself from his grip. They circled each other a few steps, and Joey lunged at him. As she threw her next punches, he dodged every one of them. She let out a breath in a moment of frustration.

As she went in for another attack, he sped around her, grabbing both of her arms and bringing them behind her back. "Gotcha," he sang, his breath hot against her ear.

Joey frowned, throwing back her elbow, but his hold didn't budge. Instead, she allowed her hands to turn blue and jolt his hands with just enough energy to shake his hands off of her. She turned around then, sending her heel to the back of his legs, sending him backward and down.

He scowled up at her. "Not fair," he grumbled.

"You play speed, I play electromagnetism," she countered, hands on her hips. He rolled his eyes, but when she extended a hand to help him up, he took it before squaring up again.

"I can see the smirk you are trying to hide," he said as Joey regained her stance. "That is not very nice."

"Well, I just knocked a speedster on his ass," Joey replied, allowing her smirk to show fully.

Pietro rolled his eyes, but his gaze didn't lose the warmth it always seemed to have when he looked at Joey. This round, he threw first, and Joey blocked his fist with her forearm.

"How was it, by the way?" He wondered, his voice softening, though he didn't tone down his attention at the combinations being thrown his way.

"What?" Joey asked, blocking a kick with her knee.

"Your... extra security," he phrased. His eyes left the match for a moment to scan Joey's face, and as he expected, she blanched slightly.

"Oh," she said. Her accompaniment to Claire's house. "Um." She wasn't expecting to talk about Wanda while they sparred. She never was expecting to talk about Wanda with him. It was a difficult subject. The weight of it now dulled their movements. "It was... it was fine, I guess," she answered.

"What happened?" He asked.

Joey wiped a bead of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, shrugging. "I don't know. It just... it wasn't pleasant at all. We didn't talk that much, but when we did, we argued. And then she just... she wasn't rude at Claire's, but... I don't know. It was just really weird."

Pietro's arms fell at his side. "What did you argue about?" His curiosity got the best of him with the question, and he braced himself for the answer.

"She started off with a colorful remark about my powers," Joey said. "Literally. Snarky comment about my skin turning blue, the day they found my mom."

"Vai," he breathed, running a hand down his face.

"And then that turned into her telling me about– about your parents," Joey went on. "And then that turned into her telling me about the easy, charmed, carefree life I've apparently lived." Joey took a breath. "She told me she doesn't need to get to know me, because she knows my dad, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Iisus," he swore. "Joey, I am so sorry."

Joey shrugged. "It is what it is," she told him, a sad smile coming onto her face. "You know, it's actually kind of funny," she said. "The reason my parents wanted to keep my identity out of the media is because they didn't want people to treat me any kind of way, just because of my dad. But it's happening anyway."

"Dragă," he lamented, stepping closer to her and placing a hand on her arm. "She should not have said those things. I am so sorry."

"It's OK," Joey reiterated, a more real smile coming onto her face at his use of a nickname she hadn't heard before. "You don't need to apologize for her. I know she doesn't speak for you."

"She doesn't," he promised, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Joey smiled up at him then, as his hand dropped from her arm to her hand. She squeezed it. "Enough about that," she decided. "Back to sparring before I cool all the way off."

"You and your sparring," he mused, laughing. "What time is it now?"

"Don't know, don't really care," Joey responded.

Pietro laughed again at this, before Joey threw a jab at him. He dodged easily. "Too slow, fată drăguță," he tsked.

Joey narrowed her eyes, kicking him in the side. It didn't knock him, but it did make contact. That was the best kick she had gotten in all night. "I don't need speed," she told him. "I have strategy."

"You are really asking for it," he commented. "I am going to take you down, Jocelyn."

A bout of laughter bubbled out of Joey's mouth. "I cannot stand you," she told him.

Pietro threw a series of attacks next, and Joey couldn't deny that they were coming at a speed she was having difficulty blocking. He got one good jab to her ribs, and one to her shoulder, but she caught his hand then, stepping to the side, and in a spur of the moment, she flipped him. Her eyes widened as she did so, her heart dropping to her stomach, and before he could land on his back with a thud, she wrapped him in blue energy in a mini-panic, allowing gravity to slow so he could catch himself.

Her eyes were wide, and so were Pietro's— she felt awful. But he just burst into laughter. "You just flipped me!" He exclaimed, cracking up.

Joey laughed, too, falling to her knees beside him. "Oh my god," she breathed. "I don't know what I was thinking! Are you OK?"

He nodded. "Good save, Gravity," he teased. Joey made a face at the nickname. Pietro was full of nicknames for her, especially tonight, it seemed— most of the people Joey was closest with in this world were. But this one surprised her. This one was about her powers.

"I seriously don't know what came over me," she told him, cringing. "I am so sorry."

"Do not be sorry," he laughed. "You caught me. I am fine. And even if you didn't, I would be fine. It would have hurt, but I would have been fine."

"OK," Joey breathed, the tension leaving her shoulders. He was fine. Oh, my god, what was she thinking?

He sat up, then, and he pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers. "Good game," he said, standing up then. "I will win next time."

Joey looked at him incredulously, taking his extended hand to stand up. "Are you sure about that?" She asked. Did he forget that she had just knocked him twice?

"Yes," he said matter-of-factly. "Me not being able to beat you in a spar in the middle of the night really does not say much about my skill. You only being able to beat me at this hour is a little concerning, though."

"If I can beat you this late, I can beat you when I'm really wide awake," Joey bet.

Pietro swung his arm around Joey's shoulder and patted it as they left the gym, finally heading upstairs. "Sure, sweetheart," he said flatly.

"Fuck off," she said, her quiet laughter echoing off the empty hallway around them.


***


It was the next week, and after a morning of training, Joey found herself in the city with Eris, Sharon, and Natasha.

"Look at this top," Nat mused.

Upon making it to the mall, following their lunch at Sisters Francaise, the first thing they did was, following Joey, make their way to a Piercing Pagoda, where Joey decided, spur of the moment, to pierce her cartilage. Now, they were inside of the Macy's just a few stores down.

Joey gasped. "Oh my god," she agreed. "That is so cute!" It was a dark red, see-through, floral lace, cropped cami— perfect for going out, or even a party at the compound, with the right skirt or pants.

"It would look so good on you," Nat added, picking it off the rack and holding it up to Joey.

"Are you serious?" She asked. "I was just thinking it would look good on you. It would totally go with your hair."

"Really?" Nat held the top up to herself now, turning and facing the mirror next to the display. Then, turning back to Joey, "Should we both get it?"

Joey grinned. "Yes! We can be twins."

Joey found the top in her size, and she and Nat then caught up down the aisle to where Sharon and Eris were browsing other nearby racks of clothing.

"That literally looks exactly like the one you're wearing," Eris was saying to Sharon, who was feeling a brown leather jacket.

Sharon cut her a glance. "It's different," she hedged. "The one I'm wearing isn't lined with fleece like this one."

"Wear a sweater under it when it gets cold," Eris suggested. "Are you really gonna spend $100 on that?"

Sharon looked at the price tag, then, before dropping the sleeve she was holding. She sighed. "No." She looked at Joey and Natasha then. "That's nice," she mentioned, nodding at the tops in their hands as she put her hands in the pocket of her jacket.

"Thanks," Joey smiled. She didn't know Sharon that well, admittedly. But she was close with Eris and Natasha, which meant the two of them would probably get along. So far, that rang true.

They continued to walk down, and after a beat, Sharon asked, "So how are things with you and Steve, Nat?"

This caught Joey's attention, and she swung her head to the left at Nat, eyebrows raised. Steve?

Nat met her gaze, blushing slightly. Apparently, she had realized she never mentioned this to Joey. "They're fine," Nat said.

"Natasha Romanoff," Joey accused. "Details, now."

She sighed. "It's not a big deal," she insisted. "If it were, you would've known about it. Steve and I used to... hook up," she admitted. "Recently, it's just turned into a little more than that."

Joey's mouth dropped open. "Oh my god! I can't believe I didn't know!" Then, "That's sweet, Nat."

"Thanks," Nat dismissed. "It is what it is."

Joey smiled to herself. She knew that Nat knew her more than most people in her life, but in turn, she liked to think she knew Nat a little better than most people, too. She took in the dimple on Nat's cheek as she suppressed a smile. Joey thought Nat was a little more serious about Steve than she was letting on.

"How about Brenna?" Nat chimed in, switching topics. The focus lay on Eris, now.

Eris' face lit up at the mention of their girlfriend. "Things are really good," she said, grinning. "We're coming up on a year, soon."

"That's great, Riri," Sharon said with a smile. "How 'bout you, Stark?" She added. "Any prospects?"

Joey raised her eyebrows, and she caught Eris' eye for a moment before laughing. "Oh, no," she replied.

"Really?" Sharon went on. "There are a bunch of agents your age. They'll come out at the next party, I'm sure."

"I'll have to keep my eyes peeled," Joey joked.

Her phone rang just then, and she pulled it from her pocket, answering it.

"Hey, Mom," she said, face lighting up. Nat and Eris smiled over at her when they heard the greeting.

"Hi, Joey," her mom responded. "What's going on? Is this an OK time?"

"Yeah," Joey answered, stepping out of the walkway and over to a display following Eris. "I'm at the mall right now. Window shopping slash real shopping at Macy's with Sharon, Eris, and Nat."

"Awe, that's fun," Heidi cooed. "Tell everyone I say hi."

"Will do. What's up?"

"Nothing," Heidi answered. "I just miss you, I wanted to check in. I'm glad you're getting out of that compound, a little."

"Me too," Joey sighed, running her hand over a fleece jacket. "It was getting claustrophobic."

"Claustrophobic," her mom repeated. "Half a million square feet."

"You know what I mean," Joey retorted, rolling her eyes.

Heidi giggled. "Yes, I do," she admitted. "I miss you and your exaggeration."

"I miss you, Mom." Joey smiled smally, raising her eyebrows at a skirt Natasha had pulled off a rack to show the group. "How's the family?"

"Good," she said. "Cooper and Lila are getting ready to head back to school soon. I've been... applying for jobs, since the summer's ending."

"That's great!" Joey exclaimed. "What sort of positions are you looking at?"

"I don't know," Heidi confessed, her inflection rising. "All kinds of things. I'm hoping to land something like the job I had in– in New York, or like my job in Malibu. Something office related."

"I'm sure you will. Your resume is stacked. You've got Dad as a reference," Joey remarked.

"I'm hoping it won't come to that," Heidi told her. "I'm trying to lay low. If I go into an interview with Tony Stark as my first reference..." she trailed off.

"Right," Joey remembered, her heart squeezing. Of course. She couldn't forget why her mom was out in Missouri in the first place. Silence fell over the line.

"I'll let you go, Joze," Heidi finally said. "Have fun shopping. Don't go crazy."

"I won't. Good luck on your job search. I love you."

"I love you, honey."

Joey shoved her phone back in her pocket. "My mom says hi," she told everyone. "Eris, I hate to encourage bad spending habits, but I think you need that sweater."

Eris scrunched her nose, shaking her head. "Brenna's got one just like it. I'll just wear hers." Then, stepping back into the aisle, "How's Heidi?"

"She's OK," Joey responded. "Looking for jobs, now that she's mostly settled in, and Cooper and Lila are heading back to school."

Eris smiled. "I miss her," they admitted.

"Me, too," Joey agreed.

The four of them walked to the front of the store then, so Joey and Natasha could check out. Upon leaving, they walked past several shops, bags in hands, and Joey, against the rest of the group's wishes and judgment, walked into Michael Kors.

"I forget you're rich," Nat mused, as she and the other two girls followed Joey into the store.

"I'm not, my dad is," Joey countered, heading straight for the first shelf of bags she saw.

"Which is only something a rich person would say," Eris concluded, laughing.

The girls dispersed throughout the store, each looking at different displays. Joey moved past the handbags— she didn't need any of those. Instead, she was eyeing a pair of block leather sneakers. They were totally her style, and she was totally going to get them. She asked the store clerk to retrieve them in her size, and while she waited, she walked over to Eris, who was trying on different pairs of sunglasses.

"Having fun?" Joey asked, smiling as Eris turned and smiled, hands on either side of the frames.

"Uh huh," Eris replied, setting down the pair she had on and trying on a pair of square, brown-tinted lenses. "I love these."

"You should get them," Joey encouraged.

Eris laughed. "I can't spend $170 on a pair of sunglasses."

"Let me get them for you!" Joey suggested, easily. "They look great on you."

"What? Joey, I'm not gonna let you—"

"It's fine, Eris! Seriously. I want to. It can be like a late birthday gift."

"You already got me a birthday gift," Eris protested, turning to face Joey.

Joey pulled a face. "I got you a $20 mug."

"And I love it and I have it displayed in my room holding some pencils," Eris replied.

"And I'm getting you the glasses," Joey said, taking them off of Eris' face, as she was still wearing them.

Eris scowled. "Rich bitch," she grumbled.

"Daddy's money," Joey reminded. "And look at that!" She pointed at the price tag. "They're on sale. $120."

"You are insufferable," Eris whined.

***

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