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~*~
Back. Forth. Back. Forth. Back. Forth…
Tony could not believe how many miles he had walked in his lab since this morning. Stuff like this should not happen to him. He had always actively tried to prevent stuff like this from happening. He could hardly remember it happening, it was ages ago.
He had to tell someone. Anyone.
He would have to tell her.She had asked him to help her and neither of them could have expected such a clusterfuck. What should he do? Oh my God what should he do? He was totally helpless with matters such as this? What if he fucked up?
Tony needed help. Definitely. He had to get advice on how to deal with a situation such as this. But who…
Pepper! Pepper would know. Pepper had solutions for almost everything in his life.Calling Pepper was probably the best. She would know what to do.
Tony reached for his phone.
~*~
One day later Tony felt a tiny bit better and was on his way to Darcy Lewis apartment. Why she refused to live in Stark Tower like the rest of them was a mystery to him. Everyone else did, even her boss-friend Jane and Thor. It would certainly make commuting a lot less stressful.
Pepper had been understanding and kind of helpful. If being helpful meant telling him to “get his shit together and go tell her”.
As Tony was standing in front of Darcy’s front door he felt slightly more nervous than before. The big moment was about to happen. He couldn’t really turn back now; Pepper would probably kill him if he backed out.
With a deep breath he pressed the doorbell and waited.
A few minutes later nothing had happened. He didn’t even hear someone on the inside.
Tony couldn’t just go without having done anything. He would wait, preferably in the apartment. After carefully looking if anyone was on the floor, he pulled out some tools and cracked the look. It was ridiculously easy. Darcy really should move somewhere with better security.
After he had closed the door behind him, he surveyed the room. Darcy’s apartment was really tiny. He probably had offices that were bigger than that. Well, he would have to change that.
Waiting didn’t mean he had to be uncomfortable, so Tony grabbed a beer from her fridge and a book from her shelf and lay down on the couch.
~*~
A short time later, Tony was half asleep when he woke to the sound of the door being opened and two people staggering into the room. Someone, probably Darcy, giggled and threw something on the kitchen table. She and the second person, a man considering the slightly more heavy steps, were going for it. He heard some moaning, heavy breathing and something which sounded suspiciously like a lot of kissing. Before things could escalate any further, Tony decided to act.
“Darcy!” He sat up.
“And Loki?” Tony asked perplexed, when his eyes fell on the third person in the room.
At his words the two of them were jumping.
“Tony!” Darcy squeaked. “What are you doing here?”
“What I am doing here? What are you doing there?” he pointed towards Loki. “You do realize that this guy tried to enslave this planet, starting with a few of our friends and acquaintances, threw me out of a window, and destroyed parts of New York with an alien army? I know that he is supposedly reformed, but this?” Tony gestured wildly.
“I do not think what Miss Lewis and I are doing is any of your business.” Why was the wicked wizard of Asgard talking? Damn, Tony had just begun to - maybe - liking the guy, he was wickedly funny and it was guaranteed that things were never boring with him around. Why did he have to be in this situation, too? This was not what Tony had planned.
“I agree with him.” Darcy weighed in. “And I ask again: What are you doing here? And why should it be any of any interest for you what I am doing with him?” Her tone was a lot sharper than usual.
“Because I do not want to see the woman, that is apparently my daughter, locking lips with the God of Mischief, who threw me out of a fucking window in his attempt for world domination!”
Silence followed.
He had yelled it at her. Oh damn. That was probably NOT the right way to break news such as this.
Darcy was looking at him with wide eyes and even Loki apparently knew when to stay silent. Tony didn’t really know what to say now. The direct approach was not the smart way, but considering he had started it that way, he could continue in the same vein.
“That was what I came here to tell you. You asked me to help you find your father, and according to my research the probability is 99% that the person in question is me. We’ll have to schedule a test with Bruce for further clarity, but well… That’s it. The big news I was here to tell.” Tony grabbed the can on the living room table and gulped the rest of the beer down.
Darcy still stared at him. Long silences were quite uncharacteristic for her, normally she was talking a lot. They were really alike in this. So the fact that she still stared at him silently was a little bit disturbing.
“My father?” she whispered after another minute. “You are my father?”
“Yep.” He noticed that she had grasped Loki’s hand in her own to seek support. He would have to question her about that at a later point; it did not look like a one-time mistake. It would also explain the green prince’s surprisingly good mood in the last few… weeks. Oh God Tony did not want to think about that right now in any more detail.
Darcy took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
“Are you kidding me? Playing some sort of prank and lying to me? Because seriously if you do that would be a shitty subject to lie to me about.”
“I am very sure that Mr. Stark is not lying.” The God of Lies hopefully was a source good enough for Darcy to belief him. That guy should be able to tell when someone was lying or not.
“I’m not lying and I’m not pranking you in this matter. When you asked me for help with this, I did my research and… well… that is what I came up with. And let me tell you, that you are not the only one surprised by this. I mean, finding out that you have a 24 year old daughter? Let me tell you that it’s pretty nerve-wracking.”
She still looked perplexed but there was hint of a smile now on her face.
Tony stood up. Not knowing how to react he stood in front of them now. It was probably the best if he went home now.
“Will you come to Stark Tower tomorrow? We can… talk about everything in more detail then?”
“Yes, yes I’ll come.”
“Good.” Tony smiled at her and turned around.
“Ahm… Tony?” He spun around again to face her and… whatever she and Loki were. “I’d really appreciate it, if you wouldn’t tell anyone about Loki and me.”
“Ok kid, whatever you want.” He managed a weak smile before finally exciting the apartment. That had been far less awkward than it could have been.