Chapter Text
Tony Stark had made many mistakes in his life, but he liked to think he was moving past them. There were, however, times when he couldn't ignore them. Like when they knocked on his front door. Literally.
Or at least their lawyers knocked on his front door.
He, Steve, and Rhodey stared at the man in a suit who had arrived at the tower an hour ago. He looked perfectly smug, while the three Avengers shared the same concerned, slightly scared expression. Their eyebrows were knit together, their mouths had the same frown, and each had a hand on their chin contemplatively.
On second thought, Steve didn't look scared at all. He raised his eyebrows at Tony accusingly, who coughed.
"Would you step out please?" he told the lawyer.
"Yes, I'm sure you need to discuss," the man said with a condescending smile that told Tony exactly what he thought of him. Tony sent him the same smile back as he left.
As soon as the door to the office shut, Steve and Rhodey both looked at Tony. He just stared back at them. No matter what he himself made of the situation, he wanted to see their reactions first.
Rhodey broke first. "You son of a bitch."
Tony raised his hands like he was being attacked. "I wasn't involved!"
"You damn well were involved, that's half your DNA walking around," Steve said sternly.
Tony pointed one finger at him. "I was not informed until the same second you were."
"What the hell are you going to do about this, Tony?" Rhodey asked, ever the logical one. "That's a whole ass kid!"
"Not mine!"
He regretted the words immediately, but Steve and Rhodey beat him to it, shouting accusations. Yes, not the most noble thing to say at all.
"Fine, fine!" he shouted over them. "Mine. Technically. I wasn't involved in the birthing, naming, raising, or supporting."
"Doesn't matter," Rhodey said, "that's a teenager with your name and a DNA test to prove it. What are you gonna do, throw her in the foster system?"
Tony ran a hand over his eyes. "No, that's a press nightmare."
"You're thinking about the press ?" Steve accused.
"Fine! Yes! I'm thinking about the press! That's how our enemies hear about us, isn't it? What happens if they try to get to her, huh?"
"Oh, right, try to turn this into a noble concern," Rhodey said.
"You're just thinking about how this is going to affect your own image," Steve said.
"So what if I am? Is that a crime?"
"What about the kid?" Steve's voice was steadily rising in volume.
"You want her to stay here?" Tony shouted back.
"That's not a bad idea!" Steve replied in the same tone.
"Exactl-" Tony cut off. "Really? Here ? In the Tower."
"Where else are you gonna put her?" Rhodey challenged.
Tony did not have an answer. Steve glared at him with raised eyebrows - his Disappointed Dad Face - until Tony gave up. "I don't know! What do you want from me? This is just as much a surprise for me as it is for you! It was a one night stand!"
"Fine, you're right, I'm sorry," Rhodey said. Tony raised his eyebrows, waiting for the blow to come. "We should just let you get by without any plan, because that works better."
"And there it is!"
"What are you going to tell Pepper?" Steve asked, which shut all of them up.
Rhodey and Tony shared horrified looks.
"The truth?" Rhodey suggested. "Just maybe?"
"Fine, but how ?" Steve continued.
"Would you like me to call Mrs. Potts to the room?" FRIDAY asked over the speakers.
"No!" all three of them shouted at once.
Tony sighed deeply, massaging his face with his hands. "I guess she stays here. I'll tell Pepper at dinner tonight. We were going out anyway."
"Isn't it your anniversary?" Rhodey asked.
"Exactly."
" Tony ," Steve said in his Disappointed Dad Voice.
" As if I could control any of this! " Tony shouted at him.
"We should send a general alert out," Steve said, more to himself than either of them.
"Woah woah woah," Tony interrupted, "no no. Not yet. Not until Pepper knows."
"I'm sorry, do you want us to move in a child with no explanation?" Rhodey asked. "She runs into Thor in the hallway, there are gonna be questions."
"Yeah, loud ones," Steve said.
"Okay. Fine. But don't tell Pepper ." Steve looked like he wanted to say something else, so Tony added, "I will tell her myself. Tonight."
"At your anniversary dinner?" Steve asked.
Tony went silent. The more they mentioned it, the more it seemed like a bad idea. "Tomorrow."
" Tony ," Steve said, yet again.
"I feel attacked! You feel that? Anything?"
"Fine," Steve relented begrudgingly. "You can tell Pepper. But we're telling the rest of the team. She's going to be a scared kid with nowhere else to go. People need to know about her to help her."
"Alright. Fine." Tony raised his hands again in surrender, as if they were being ridiculous and he had been nothing but cooperative for the whole conversation. "I will tell Pepper."
"Okay," Rhodey said. "Now you should probably go meet your child."
Tony pressed his lips together, thinking about the absurdity of this statement. What the hell was his life? "Yep."
~~~~~
The girl now sitting next to the lawyer in the hallway was not a child.
Tony had known, objectively, that she would be older. That was how math worked. But the way they'd all been talking about her, for some reason he had been picturing someone much younger.
She had his hair. It was long, but dark like his. And his eyes, the same ones he saw everyday in his... other daughter, Morgan. And was that the same jaw structure? Actually, the only resemblance she had to her mother was... well. He didn't remember much of that night. He remembered meeting Natalia – a Russian ballerina – and buying drinks, but after that it was a blur.
The girl – young woman – stood from the chair she was sitting in. The lawyer stood with her. Tony found himself just staring at her. She stared back at him, but shifted uncomfortably.
"This is Anya Stark," the lawyer said unhelpfully. "Anya, this is your father."
Anya chewed on her lip, then finally held out her hand for him to shake. "Hi."
Her hand was red and marked with lines from her jeans. She must have been sitting on it. A habit she shared with Morgan , Tony realized like a punch to the chest. He cleared his throat and took her hand, shook it. "Hi."
She was trying to be fine. She stood like she didn't care, but she didn't let go of his hand quickly, and he could see it behind her eyes. He saw a lot of himself behind her eyes.
Steve stepped up next. "Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you."
She shook his hand, tightly smiled. "Hi."
Then Rhodey. "Hey, I'm Rhodey. Your dad and I go way back."
Tony cringed. Probably not best to lead with "your dad and I," but he was trying. He tried to give Anya a smile, like this didn't bother him. She caught that look and mirrored it. It was disorienting to see his smile on her face, but at least she understood.
"So... your mom..." Tony attempted to make conversation, but stumbled. Luckily Anya caught it.
"Yeah, she... she got sick, but she refused to go to the doctor for too long. Cancer." Anya shrugged, but there was something shaky about it. "But we weren't... close. Not really. I had nannies."
"You don't-" Tony hated himself for stuttering. "You don't sound like her." Technically a lie - she sounded like what he remembered, but what he meant was the accent.
Anya nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I speak Russian, but I grew up in Seattle, so."
Tony felt that punch to his chest again. Seattle? She moved to the other side of the country to find him?
She cleared her throat when he didn't say anything for a moment. "So... what's the plan? I mean- I'm sorry, I know this is sudden, but I really..." She swallowed hard and Tony watched her blink back the traitorous tears welling in her eyes. "I don't actually have anywhere else to go."
Tony swallowed, realized he did the same thing she just did, then finally got himself to say, "Yeah. You're staying here."
Her eyes widened with hope. "Okay."
"We have room," Tony said like it was nothing. Like he did this every day. "You can go... next to Wanda. She'll love that, right? Some company."
Steve nodded gently, being emotionally supportive, and Tony wanted to punch him for recognizing vulnerability.
"Where's your stuff?" Tony asked, avoiding her eyes.
"In the car," she said, taking a step back as if to go get it.
"No, no, we've got people for that. FRIDAY, can we get someone on it?"
"Of course Mr. Stark," came the reply, and Anya jumped at the disembodied voice.
"That's FRIDAY, she's everywhere," Tony explained simply. "Okay, do you, uh, want a tour? Or something? We can-"
"Actually, Mr. Stark, I have some paperwork for you to review," the lawyer interrupted, holding a clipboard out to Tony. It had a stack of paper on it, at least an inch thick.
"I don't like being handed things," Tony told him.
The lawyer recovered quickly. "Then why don't we just go into the office..." He continued to speak as he walked away, into the office, but Tony stopped listening.
"I'm just gonna..." He gestured vaguely after the man in the suit, and Anya nodded cooly. Her arms were crossed and her weight was on one leg. Tony recognized the defense, but was not prepared to deal with it, so he followed the lawyer.
The door closed behind them, and Anya had never felt more alone in her life.