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yourmcu · 4 years

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Wish You Were Here (ii)

Pairings: Tony Stark x daughter!reader, Peter Parker x Stark!reader (platonic)

Summary:

an Infinity War/Endgame AU where Tony Stark’s daughter (you) is one of half the population that vanishes in the snap, Tony finds out later on when he arrives back to Earth, devastated, then you come back like the others to help fight Thanos.

Word count: 3,115

A/n: (moved to the end of the fic!)

Warnings: angst, death, swearing, Morgan’s a cutie! and no seriously I miss him so much

read it on ao3!

Part 1

gif not mine! credits to the owner^^

Just like the others, you were brought back when the Avengers succeeded in retrieving all the infinity stones.

You're laying on the ground at the same place you were last time: Wakanda. Once you gain consciousness you struggle to get up, your legs wobbly.

“Hello?” You call out, but you're alone, can’t even contact anyone since your suit is out of power. You have no clear memory of what happened, just that you had an anxiety attack while Natasha held you, then you blacked out and - that’s it.

You felt a strong breeze and footsteps behind you.

“[Y/N] Stark,” a man’s voice says. “Come with me.”

The man is ancient looking, had a cape and his facial hair weirdly reminds you of Tony’s. “Who are you? And how long was I out?” You look at a sparking yellow portal far behind him, “did you do that?”

“Stick together and stick with Wong,” the man calls out before the portal closes. You have no idea who he was talking to since they already got in. “Doctor Stephen Strange. We need to find Pepper Potts and... get you suited.”

“I already am suited it’s just - no juice. What’s going on?”

“It’s been five years. It’s time, your father and the others need our help to defeat Thanos,” Doctor Strange opens up another portal to an unfamiliar cabin. Your eyes light up at the mention of Tony. “Quickly. We do not have much time.”

Five years? Unbelievable. That’s just insane. You like sleeping a lot but you couldn’t imagine being asleep for five long years.

“Are - are you sure we’re in the right pla - okay, sorry, don’t have much time, yeah,” you knock on the door when Doctor Strange gives you a stern and impatient look. It gets answered right away.

“[Y/N]? Oh my god,” Pepper says breathlessly. You could feel her sobbing while she hugs you tightly.

“Hey, you guys didn’t tell me you moved,” you frown. “Is all my stuff here? Mr. Strange wants me to get ready and this isn’t the only suit I have-”

“Doctor Strange.”

“It’s upstairs, last room on the left,” Pepper smiles as she wipes her tears. You nod and went up the stairs as the magic doctor told her everything.

All your stuff were in boxes and your spare iron suit was standing in a corner. You wiped away the dust off and checked if it was in good condition. It was ready to go.

You quickly charged the weapons and blasters on the suit, and you still needed to-

You hear a small gasp from behind the door.

Confused, you turn around to see a girl with an amazed smile on her face. “Y/N!”

You cautiously walk over to the small girl, “yeah, I’m Y/N, what’s your name?”

“Morgan,” she replies, then her eyes widen as she hides something behind her back. “Daddy said I can borrow your stuff as long as I put it back. They all look really cool.”

You still aren’t sure, but you start to put the pieces together in your mind: you were ‘gone’ for five years, this girl is living with Pepper, and if you guessed right, ‘daddy’ is Tony.

She’s your sister.

“It’s okay, and thanks,” she gives you a small hug which you return slightly, you feel a smile growing on your face since you find her really precious. “It’s nice to meet you, Morgan.

“Hey, so, there’s this weirdo man downstairs and he wants me and Pep - mom to do an errand for him,” you say to her once you remember you have to go. Morgan nods understandingly, “we can play and catch up when I get back, okay? That’s a promise.”

She runs back to her room and you get suited up, power at its maximum.

“Welcome back, Ms. Stark.”

“Glad to be. I missed you - actually, how Dad’s doing? Is he alright?”

“Mr. Stark had a concussion earlier, but as of now he is waking up again.”

“Oh,” you exhale and start worrying about him a bit. “Okay. That’s fine, I guess,”

Once you go back down a portal was already open and a nanny by the door (you assumed for Morgan). You fly right in before it closed up.

“Holy shit.”

There's armies coming out of many different portals, from people to aircrafts, to mutants. You all gather at the Avengers compound, or what used to be the compound.

“I forgot to mention,” you point out and Pepper turns to you, “That’s a pretty badass suit.”

You could feel Pepper roll her eyes from inside her suit. You follow her as she flies all the way to the front.

Your eyes dart everywhere to look for Tony. And there he is, getting up from the ground and flying back to the Avengers. He looks worn out, ragged, tired; you notice before his iron head covered him up. There’s so many people that you doubt he even saw you. God, you miss him so much.

Cap, Thor, Rhodey, Clint, Peter, Wanda, Bucky, Sam, Bruce - or Hulk, everyone was there, but where’s Natasha?

“Avengers!” Cap shouts, a hand extended as he catches Mjolnir without stumbling - whoa, what? - “assemble.”

That’s it. The battle begins.

It's your first time using your backup suit, you obviously didn’t have the time to test it out first. Good thing it works fine.

You're flying around, shooting enemies whenever they get in your way and helping anyone on your side who needed it.

What got you confused (not that you were complaining) was how the other Avengers were a bit too happy to see you than they normally should. You brushed it off though, they probably just love you so much like you love them.

“Aye, mind if you launch me? I need to be over there,” a raccoon holding a gun states and pointed to the direction. You recognize him immediately.

"Sure thing, bud,” you obliged, grabbing him, levitating off the ground and to thrust your iron arm forward like a cannon.

After a while the battle died down a bit and you saw Tony embracing Peter in a distance.

You smile sadly. Peter’s your best friend, but you really wish that it’s you who Tony was hugging.

Your jealousy fades when one of those giant flying Chitauri makes its way to their direction, ready to attack.

“Friday, activate the mega blaster,” you fly closer to the pair.

“Which one?” For fuck’s sake, Friday,

“The biggest one, please, now!” Once the blaster's out, you aim at the monster who's literally meters away from Tony and Peter and fire. When it crashes to the ground lifeless, you land beside them.

“Sorry, that was,” you pant, opening up your iron helmet. “It was literally going to eat you guys, so, uh, sorry for ruining the moment.”

Peter smiles, nodding and Tony looks at you as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

He hadn’t seen you in so long that your sudden presence fucking took his breath away. You're here, alive and back. If you guys weren’t in such a situation he’d go on and tell you about all the things you missed.

“I’m probably in trouble, right? I mean.. look Dad, I’m in a battlefield,” you laugh nervously, shooting a creature from the corner of your eye. “In my defense, Doctor Strange was the one who came to me, I didn’t-”

You're cut off when Tony wraps his arms around you. Right now he didn’t care about your excuses as to why you were here. But if Tony from five years ago could see you now he’d definitely ground you for life and take away your lab privileges.

“You’re doing great.” his voice slightly muffled from the hug. You let out a squeak, not expecting that from him at all. Tony smiles and plants a kiss to your forehead. “I love you, kid.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

The battle carries on and you're being swarmed by more enemies. You got really beaten up as it went on - what really knocked you out was when Thanos’ spaceship rained fire.

Unable to get shelter, you try your best to dodge everything that came out of the ship. You could barely see anymore because of the chaos and the clouds of dust everywhere.

“Ms. Stark, you need to get somewhere safe! Your heart rate is also increasing dangerously fast.”

“Not - not helping, Fri-” you get cut off when one of the blue fires hit you on the head, sending you to the ground unconscious.

----

“[Y/N], come on buddy, you need to get up,” Peter. He found your body a while after he handed the gauntlet to Captain Marvel. The battle's still ongoing, but he’s focusing on keeping you away from it while he waits for you to wake up.

You quickly sit up and gasp for air, looking at your best friend. “Did we win? Did we - wait, Peter, look out!” You push him out of the way when a group of monsters make their way to both of you. They turn into dust before they could lunge forward, however.

“...what the..?”

He helps you up and the both of you run to where Rhodey and Tony are at. You nearly break down when you see the state he's in.

“Mr. Stark? Hey - Mr. Stark? It’s Peter... and look, Y/N’s here- she’s okay, sir-” While Peter tries to talk to him you kneel down beside him, placing a hand on his arm while you do your best not to cry.

Then he looks at you, mouthing it’s okay.

But you know it isn’t. On your part, anyway. It seems really selfish but you don’t know what you’d do without him. Tony has always been there for you, he always kept you going.

Pepper kneels beside you, gave you a reassuring look before looking at her husband. “Friday?”

“Life functions critical.” That makes you whimper, pulling yourself closer to Tony.

“Tony, look at me. We’re going to be okay. You can rest now.”

You nod, sniffling, resting your head on his shoulder lightly. “I love you. I’ll take good care of Morgan, dad. Don’t worry.”

When the light of his arc reactor goes out, that’s when both you and Pepper break down, comforting each other around Tony’s lifeless body.

----

Dresses really weren’t your thing. So were skirts and shorts. But you wore a short, black dress for Tony’s funeral. You didn’t care if you weren’t comfortable, it was for him. You’d do anything for him.

You barely got any sleep since the battle, you couldn’t now that he was gone. It didn’t feel right. You had no idea how to cope, how you could move on from this.

What made things worse is when Steve and Thor told you about what happened to Natasha, that’s why you didn’t see her in the battle. She gave her own life just to get everybody else back.

You must’ve zoned out again because Rhodey and Pepper are now setting something up in the living room. An Iron Man helmet.

“S’that going to be new decoration?” You force out a chuckle, sniffling afterwards, sitting down on the sofa behind them.

Iron Man’s eyes light up when Rhodey presses a button. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. Tony sitting on a chair, a hologram.

He turns it off before hologram Tony could say a word. “That’s,” he sighs, “that’s for later.”

“I can’t do this,” you get up, running a hand through your hair. “I can’t. I’ll - I’ll break down, I know I will. Can I take a walk? Please?”

“Take your time.” Steve gives you a comforting smile.

Pepper nods. “Some air would do you good. Be back when it’s time, okay?”

You take longer calming yourself down in the woods near the cabin. You cried, you mumbled to yourself, paced back and forth,

Cause a picture is all that I have, To remind me that you're never coming back If I picture it now it just makes me sad And right now I just wish you were here.

You stop when you heard leaves crunching. Peter just arrived, along with his aunt.

“Hey,” Peter silently greets, pulling you into a hug. It's obvious he isn’t getting any sleep either. “Are you okay?”

“Of course not,” you murmur, pulling away. “I should probably head back inside.”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

You slowly walk to the porch, stopping when you hear Tony’s voice inside. You decide to just wait outside the door, you definitely don’t want to see his face, not right now, it'd be too painful.

“If we pull this thing off, and get everyone back,” Tony pauses. “Tell [Y/N] I left something in her room, yeah?”

Then he does the secret rhythm to a clap only the both of you memorized and knew.

You assume he’s done, since you don’t hear his voice anymore after that. Everyone goes out of the house and you hold Morgan’s hand as all of you walk to the lake for one last goodbye.

After that you talked to everybody who came for a while. Bruce, Steve, Clint and Thor tried to get you to look at the bright side, which you appreciated, you met the rest of the guardians who came, Doctor Strange who gave you a sympathetic look and apologized for your loss, and the guy you remembered Tony told you about, the one who helped him when his suit powered down and got stranded years ago. You made a mental note to ask him to hang out with you and Peter sometime.

“Hey... I’m heading to bed now,” you inform Pepper, Happy and Rhodey (both men were staying at the cabin for a few days) who're in the living room staring at the fireplace.

Before you go to your own room you check up on Morgan, who’s fast asleep. She's wearing her little Iron Man glove, pressed to her chest. She doesn’t deserve this.

Your room is still unpacked and they just sort of removed your bed from the compound and moved it here. You sit on the bed, already thinking of ways to move on that you know wouldn’t work anyway.

You remember your father claimed he had something for you here, so taking a deep breath, you clap the secret rhythm,

“Dad... you’ve gotta be kidding me,” you whine, covering your face with both palms.

Another hologram.

“Hey legacy,” Tony chuckles, looking at you. You shake your head at the ridiculous nickname, also avoiding his eyes, which you’re sure would make you cry if you did look. “I... uh, this is just a little video. For you. Sure you won’t see this but... I like to pretend I could still talk to you. I miss you, a lot.”

You fiddle with your hands, still not looking at him but you listen to him talk.

“But we’ll see. We’ll figure something out. I hope to see you soon, [Y/N]. I love you.”

He has both hands in his pockets as he looked at you with a warm smile, before disappearing.

But he reappears a second after.

“We’re doing it tomorrow. The... uh, time travel thing.”

The stress in his voice make you look up at him, but this time he isn’t looking at you. It seems like he was pacing while he recorded it.

“I just finished doing one of these for, well, in case I somehow die while we attempt to do it. If you think about it, it’s highly likely. Going back in time, yada yada, possibilities are endless,” he sighs. “But I figured I owe my firstborn a final message if that happens, right?”

“Honestly I feel,” he makes motions with his hands. “Bit anxious... right now. We were the only ones helping each other out when one of us felt this way but... seeing as you’re not here, I just have to deal with it.”

“[Y/N], look at me,” Tony crouches down to be in level with you, like he knew you were actually here watching this, like he was actually there, the one talking to you. But it’s how he programmed it. “You wanna know what my best decision in life was?”

“Yeah?”

“Taking you in,” he smiles. “When we fight you always bring up that I had the choice not to, and you were right. But guess what? I have no regrets.”

You smile, blinking back tears.

“You mean the world to me, I just feel like I don’t say it enough,” Tony cocks his head slightly, still looking at you. “We both have no idea what the afterlife’s like but that won’t matter, I’ll always look after you girls.”

“Speaking of which, your sister reminded me so much of you when she was first born, god, I still wish you were around for that. I know you’ll love her, she’s just brilliant. Take care of her for me, yeah?”

“Maybe there’s a way to get you back,” Tony sighs at your words, already knowing that it’s not going to work out. “I - I just need some time. I can bring you back, Dad-”

He places a hand on your shoulder. You couldn’t feel it, but you did feel a light breeze. “The deed’s already done, honey. Don’t worry about me. Come on, don’t cry,” he kneels in front of you as you let yourself go, crying hard into your palms.

Don't say everything's meant to be, Cause you know it's not what I believe Can't help but think that it should've been me In the end, I just wish you were here.

You open your eyes when you hear a beep, even Tony turns around. The recording had ten seconds left. “The recording’s about to end, [Y/N],”

“I love you tons,” you whisper, looking up at him.

Tony smiles, caressing your cheek. “I love you 3,000.”

Yeah, they say you're in a better place, Either way I still wish you were here ‘Cause they say you're in a better place In the end, I just wish you were here.

----

so here’s part 2. I miss him y’all, it’s missing-Tony-so-much hours for me

just like the first part, I got the title from this amazing song by Neck Deep which you can listen to here.

[taglist: @creation-magician (which I would like to personally thank for wanting to be tagged)]

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emma-nation · 4 years

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Unfinished Business - F! Sam Dalton x MC Fanfiction (Chapter 3)

Summary: When Sam Dalton is caught in a scandal, Anna Schuyler is the only one who can help her. But will her former nanny be able to leave the past behind?

“Samantha Dalton was like one of good dreams you don’t want to wake up from. You close your eyes, you force your brain to remember every minor detail, you begin to imagine what comes next… hoping to be in control. You want to fall asleep again. You want it to continue, but it’s too late now. You’re wide awake.”

Genre: Angst, Romance

Tag List: @save-me-the-last-dance, @nydeiri (If you wish to be tagged for future chapters/fics of this pairing, let me know)

Being back to that motel room brought a turmoil of feelings inside Anna's chest. Deep down, she knew the real reason why she was standing in the same room as Sam Dalton again. Yet, she felt the constant need of reminding it to her brain, and especially her heart.

"I'm doing this for Jack," she repeated mentally. "I must get the money to pay for his treatment."

"I'm glad you accepted my offer, Anna," Sam said. "But it's late now, you should probably get some rest. Tomorrow we can start to work."

"Right, I'll get a room."

She knew what Sam was about to offer, so she anticipated herself and left through the door, giving her no chance to speak. There was absolutely no possibility she'd spend the night in the same room as that woman. By the morning, she could grab Sam's gadgets and work by herself. They didn't have to speak, or even see each other. That was a professional deal and nothing more.

"My apologies, Ms. Schuyler," the receptionist spoke as she typed on her computer. "We're crowded."

"Uhhh... I... I only need a bed for a few hours," Anna handed her some extra cash. "Anything is fine."

Even the janitor's room would be better than sharing the bed with her ex lover. It was almost scientifically proven that any physical contact between them could not end well. Or it could end too well, considering how great she was in bed. Anna shook her head dismissing those thoughts.

"Ms. Schuyler, you don't understand. We don't have any rooms."

"Fine! I'll sleep right here."

She stomped to a small couch in the reception room, trying to curl her body enough to make herself a little bit comfortable. She closed her eyes for a minute, when a voice brought her back from her failed attempt of falling asleep.

"Really, Anna?" Sam sighed. "You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"I don't want it, thank you," she quickly closed her eyes again. "I don't want to be so near to you in such a small space."

"You can take my room then. I'll... I'll stay up, walking around. I haven't been able to sleep since it all started anyways."

Anna opened her eyes again. Sam seemed to be exhausted. Her face gave it away. The scandal was truly affecting her. After dedicating her whole life to that company, she was about to lose everything. Including her children if she went to jail. And that was when their eyes met.

"I can't believe I'm here," she rolled her eyes on the bed. She was trying hard to not move, or make any sounds that indicated she was still awake. Sam kept her promise, she was sleeping on the floor, very far away from the bed. "Those damn puppy dog eyes. They make her seem so innocent!"

"Good night, Anna," what was it? Was she reading thoughts now?

"Good night, Sam," she rolled to the side, facing the wall until she fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning, Sam was already awake. Outside the room she seemed to be busy on the phone with her lawyers. Anna took a shower and changed her clothes before she returned.

"Anna, good morning," Sam met her after some time. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"I didn't want to disturb your phone call," Anna told. "Any important news?"

"They've set the trials to start three weeks from now. We'll need to work fast. But I told them I may have found a manner to prove my innocence, they're optimistic."

"Okay then, let's get to work."

Anna turned on Sam's computer. Password protected. The first step to narrow the suspect's list was to discover how safe Sam's password could be. Anna tried a few guesses.

"What are you doing?" The CEO asked.

"Trying to guess your password," Anna answered. "Through this, we can find out how close to you our suspect can be."

"This is smart. Though I can't think of anyone who would be able to guess it."

"Not even Sofia?"

"No, she wouldn't know."

After lots of combinations, Anna threw her hands in the air. Without an expert cracking method, it was impossible. Sam approached, typing a combination of numbers and letters: 'M9S16N2M00CK7Y'.

"Hmmm it's long and safe," she asked curiously. "What is it by the way?"

"A mix of the boys' names and the date I met their mom," Sam told.

"Your first wife, huh? You never talk much about her, so I guess no one would find out so easily."

Sam's expression suddenly became distant and somber. Her current situation was probably making all those old feelings resurface.

"The truth is I still feel guilty for her death. We had a fight that day, she thought I was spending too much time at work. I realized she was right, I came home with a surprise and... I received the news of her accident."

"I'm sorry. This wasn't your fault, Sam. It was a tragedy."

Not wanting to get involved, Anna turned her attention back to the computer screen. She didn't know where to start searching first. She wasn't sure she wanted to have all the pictures, videos and evidence of the last two happy years Sam spent with Sofia thrown in her face all at once. She wasn't ready for this.

"Okay..." she took a deep breath. "Remember, you're here for the money."

As she started scanning the folders for any suspicious files or activity, she was surprised. Most of the pictures were of Mason and Mickey, a few of Sam's parents and only a couple where she was accompanied by her wife. Her marriage seemed boring and unhappy, different from what the tabloids would often paint.

"So, did you find anything?" Sam asked after a few minutes.

"Not yet. Whoever is doing this to you was smart enough to not leave any tracks or..."

"Or what?"

"They didn't hack you. They had direct access to your computer."

"Are you suggesting..."

"You should trust no one. Not even Sofia, or Robin."

Sam's cell phone was now their only hope to find proof. Anna plugged it on the laptop and using some advanced software, she started analyzing its activity. It didn't take long for her to come across some evidence.

"Crap!" She shouted.

"What's going on?" Sam want to know.

"Not only somebody has hacked your phone, Sam. But they've bugged you too."

"Damn, they listened to all my conversation with the lawyers. They know what I'm trying to do!"

"Well, on a brighter side you need to take this to the police as soon as possible. It'll be more than enough to prove you didn't send that email."

Anna collected her stuff, Sam did the same. Now all she had to do was wait for her paycheck and leave. Easy as that. But before, she was going to grab some breakfast. All the adrenaline of the last few hours had her starving.

"Uh, what are you doing?" She asked, noticing Sam had followed her to the motel's cafeteria. "Aren't you going home?"

"I haven't had breakfast yet and..." And. Followed by the puppy dog eyes. Anna knew there was something else. "I was hoping you could come with me to the police station."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I don't wanna get any more involved, I've already have a ton to deal with right now. "

"I understand. Can you at least take me back to New York? Carter is with the boys in my parents' house."

Anna sighed in frustration. Everytime she thought she'd free herself from any contact with Sam, something new would come up. Again, she needed money and the CEO had more than enough to pay extra for a rid back to New York. She agreed. All for Jack... and a little revenge too. Samantha Dalton would be literally paying for every tear she made her cry.

"What's going on?" As they walked back to the room, Sam attempted to break the awkward silence that was always present between them. "In your life, I mean. You said you're dealing with a lot right now."

"It's... personal," Anna didn't want to give her details about her stepfather's health. "Family issues."

"Is this why you accepted my offer, Anna? Are you having money issues?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does, because I still ca-" Sam's sentence was cut short by the surprise of seeing the door was open. "Did I forget to lock it when we left?"

"No, I'm pretty sure you did," Anna said. "I remember seeing you lock it."

As they entered, the room had been completely trashed. All of their clothes and belongings were scattered on the floor.

"No..." Sam rushed inside, knowing exactly what could be missing. She started searching everywhere for her cell phone and laptop. "No... it can't be."

Anna decided to help her. There wasn't any signs of the devices until she opened the bathroom's door and found they had been destroyed in a million pieces. Sam stood by her side, her mouth opened in shock and her eyes full of tears.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Anna placed a hand on her shoulder. "Someone is really determined to destroy you."

"What am I going to do now?" The woman sat on the edge of the bed. It was the second time Anna was actually seeing her cry. The only thing that had affected Samantha so badly in the past was her accident in Italy, days before her wedding with Sofia.

"I don't know..." Anna walked to the window. As she contemplated the world outside, she noticed as a black car was watching them. Its windows were heavily tinted, but she could distinguish the figure of a man behind the wheel. As soon as he noticed her staring, he drove away. "Damn it, we're being followed."

Sam was fast enough to approach in time to see the car leaving.

"We're not safe here, Anna."

"Right, you should go to your parents' house with the boys. I'm coming back to my small hometown, where I know no one will even bother following me there."

"I can't risk putting their lives in danger," Sam said, placing her clothes back into the bags. "I'm coming with you."

"What?!" Anna tried to protest, she tried to think of reasonable excuse to voice and prevent that madness from happening. It was too late, paralyzed with shock, she was already back to her car with Samantha, headed to Rhode Island.

"I hate myself," she thought, glancing discreetly at the passenger's seat. "It can't get any worse than this. Can it?"

As they parked in front of Anna's childhood home, she began to wonder what she'd be telling her parents about Sam. It was a small town. Even if the scandal had made to the national news, no one would ever imagine the CEO would be hiding there. They probably wouldn't even recognize her.

Her phone started ringing. It was Jenny. Now it would be the right time for some friendly advice. She left the car for privacy, standing under a tree.

"Hey Jenny."

"Hey. You promised me daily news, don't you remember?"

"I do, but not even in your wildest dreams you could imagine what happened..."

She told her everything, from Jack's illness to the fact Sam Dalton was inside her car, minutes away from being introduced to her family.

"Anna, you should have dropped her in the middle of the road!" Jenny yelled. "She's not your problem. She's her wife's problem. And it's not like she can't afford the best lawyers in the country, people like her will never go to jail."

"You're right," Anna agreed. "I should. Yet, I had no strength to do so. Even after everything she did to me, I couldn't stand seeing her suffer. God, I'm so stupid..."

"No, Anna. You have this great heart that will always help people, no matter who they are. This is part of you, and one of the reasons why I love you so much."

"Thank you, I... I learned it from Jack."

"Then go save him, you're doing the right thing. Even if it's crazy and absolutely stupid."

She turned off her phone and returned to the car. It was time to enter the house and face her parents.

"Ready?" She went back to the car.

"Anna, would you mind borrowing me your phone for a minute?" Sam asked. "I'm gonna call the lawyers to inform the incident."

Anna handed her the phone. But instead of dialing, Sam stared at the screen for minutes. She nervously ran a hand through her hair.

"What's going on? Something wrong?"

"Yes. Helena Hawthorne, the woman I'm being accused to sleep with, she released the pictures to the media. And Sofia is already filing for the divorce."

----------

Notes: (Oh Anna, you have no idea how worse it can get.)

Thank you so much for the feedback. It means a lot to me!

#the nanny affair #sam dalton x mc #sam x mc #f!sam x mc #choices tna #f!sam dalton x mc #tna #tna fanfiction #unfinished business

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verilyruth · 4 years

Text

Rules of Courtship

(Part 3 of A New Beginning series)

AO3

Summary: Katherine's parents aren't sold on this new dating thing. They prefer traditional courtship, which means that David has less than twenty-four hours to prepare to meet the Pulitzers. Katherine's also having some new experiences and her eyes opened with the help of Jack and her older brother.

Pairings: Davey/Katherine

“He’s more…traditional than your parents are, David.”

“But we’ve only been out once!”

Katherine shrugged.

“That’s his point, I think. This is all new to him. This is how Ralph did it and so he thinks this is how I should too.”

Her father had been on her about courting. He knew she was seeing someone but not who it was. Dating was new to Joseph Pulitzer, to say the least. He was used to the traditional style of courtship which often involved families being around. In his defense, dates were a relatively new phenomenon and he’d been married for over twenty years.

“I don’t see why it’s a big deal. Just come to my house for dinner and have a drink with my father and Ralph.”

“I’m not eighteen.”

“He doesn’t care.”

“I…Katherine, I don’t know,” David said. She was getting agitated. What was the big deal?

“Why does it matter? You’re calling it off because you don’t want to have a meal with my father?”

“What? No! No, Katherine, I swear.” He looked panicked. “I’ll…I’ll come. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think I wouldn’t do it if it means that much to you.”

Katherine rolled her eyes.

“It doesn’t mean that much to me, it’s about my parents.” David nodded. He looked upset and she couldn’t help but grab his hand. “Although it means a lot that you would be willing to do it for me.”

He smiled and brought her hand to his lips.

“Of course. So when would this be?”

“Tomorrow?”

“What?” David looked panicked again.

“I’m sorry!” Katherine defended. “I was trying to get out of it and then I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you’d freak out.”

“You were right,” Jack said. He was sitting on a windowsill in the main room of the lodging house, reading the paper.

“Shut up, Jack.”

“Katherine…I’ll come but can you please tell me earlier in the future? For big things in general. I would’ve liked more time to prepare to meet your parents.”

“You’ve already met my father.”

“Yeah, when you yelled at him and called him a fool, remember?”

“Shut up, Jack,” she said again.

“You’ll be fine, okay? Ralph likes you-”

“I met Ralph for all of thirty seconds.”

“I’ve told him about you. And my other siblings will like you too and so will my mother.”

“Yeah, but it’s your father he’s scared of.”

“Shut up, Jack.” David ordered. “I’m just worried he’s going to take one look at me, realize who I am, and tell me I can’t see you anymore.” He looked legitimately nervous and she did her best to soothe him. She put her hand on his arm, caressing it.

“I don’t care about my parents’ approval.”

“If that were true we wouldn’t even be doing this,” he pointed out with a sigh.

Katherine didn’t have a response. She pulled him into a hug instead.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to feel all this pressure. But I promise, even if he says that, I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

He nodded.

“Okay.”

That night, she was sitting with her brother in the parlor, drinking what was arguably too much wine.

“So how’d he take it?” Ralph asked, switching the subject away from his work. She glared at him over the brim of her glass as she took a too big sip. “That well, huh?”

“He wasn’t exactly thrilled.”

“Can you blame him?”

“No, but it would’ve been nice if he was super excited for some reason.”

Ralph rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“But he’s coming, yes?”

“He’s coming. He’ll be here at six.”

“He’s probably going crazy, poor guy.”

“What?” she asked, concerned. “Why would he be going crazy?”

“Well, you don’t show up to the house of the girl you’re trying to court empty handed.”

Katherine wasn’t sure why that was relevant.

“Okay?”

“Seriously, Kitty? He’s one of the newsies.”

“So?”

“How much spare money do you think he has?”

Being told that was like a blow to the chest. Obviously Katherine knew David didn’t have much money but the idea that she had stressed him out about that without it occurring to her made her feel incredibly guilty.

“Oh.”

“Don’t be like that,” he said softly. “Come here.” She leaned against his side and continued to drink. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“No, because either he shows up with something and he’s spent money or he doesn’t and he looks bad.”

“Maybe you should mention to Mother and Fa-”

“No!”

“Yeah, as soon as I started saying it I realized it was a bad idea.”

“Should I talk to him during my lunch break tomorrow?”

Ralph shook his head.

“No, you’ll hurt his pride.”

“David isn’t like that.”

“Every man is like that a little bit. Even if he isn’t, he’ll be mortified, won’t he?”

“I guess. Jack did say he was upset on his first day when he tried to buy him extra papers.”

“There you go. But talk to Jack if you’re so worried. He knows David better than I do, obviously, so maybe he’ll disagree.”

She nodded. That sounded like a good solution. The problem was getting Jack alone when he was supposed to be selling with David.

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry about that. Worry about how many well meaning but offensive things Mother is going to say. We can take bets if you- ow!”

“Jack!” Katherine whisper-yelled. “Jack Kelly!”

Jack turned around and startled at Katherine, who was standing in the dark alley.

“Kath? What the hell are you-”

“Listen! I was waiting for David to leave. When will he be back?”

“Like ten minutes? He went to make sure Les isn’t dead.”

“Okay, good.” She stepped out onto the sidewalk and brushed off her skirt.

“What the hell is going on? Why are you hiding in alleys?”

“One alley, not multiple,” she countered. “I needed to talk to you without David knowing.”

“About what?”

“About tonight.”

Jack rolled his eyes.

“I’ve spent the last four hours talking about tonight. He’s coming, I promise.”

“Four hours?”

“He’s like one big ball of anxiety but that ain’t new. What about tonight?”

Katherine sighed.

“I should’ve realized yesterday, but is David worried about bringing something? Ralph mentioned it and I thought that maybe-”

“Are you kidding me?” Jack rolled his eyes again and laughed humorlessly. “Of course he is!”

She felt a pit in her stomach and all she wanted was to give David a hug.

“What can I do to help?”

“Nothing. He’s got it covered, Ace, don’t worry about it.”

“But-”

“Seriously. I won’t tell him you asked but he’s my best friend and I don’t like lying to him so don’t put me in the middle, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks anyway, Jack.” She tried to leave but he stepped in her way.

“You need to relax too. There ain’t nothing you can do about it and there wouldn’t have been last night either.”

“Yeah. We just have to get through tonight and then-”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean?”

Jack looked exasperated and borderline frustrated. He had the look on his face that Katherine wore when she listened to her coworkers talk about suffrage. It was a look that said “you’re an absolute idiot.”

“I mean, that it ain’t just tonight. He’s not gonna suddenly not be poor tomorrow. He’s gonna have to figure this out on every date and every time he sees your folks.” He must have noticed how distraught she was because he lightheartedly added, “Romance is expensive, Plumber. Don’t you remember that song Medda sang the day we met?”

“Seriously?” she hissed in Ralph’s ear. “This is the one time he comes home before ten and he’s being impatient with us? He’s the one who said six!”

“Relax, Kitty, it’s only quarter to. He’ll be here. Father can get over it. And you don’t have to whisper; there’s no way they can hear us.”

The two of them were waiting in the foyer with an annoyed footman who clearly wanted them gone, but Katherine wasn’t leaving David alone when he came in and Ralph wasn’t leaving Katherine to freak out by herself.

There was a knock at the door and the footman went to answer it.

“Uh, hello,” she heard David say, “my name is David and I’m here to Mr. and Mrs. Pulitzer and their daughter Ms. Pulitzer?”

Katherine smiled at his formality. It was a little bit adorable. He was let in and he handed a rather expensive looking bottle of whiskey to the footman and said, “this is a gift for Mr. and Mrs. Pulitzer.”

Where had that come from? She didn’t give herself time to think about it because once the footman was out of sight, Katherine pulled David into a hug.

“Hi.”

“Hi. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course. These are for you.” He handed her the bouquet of flowers he had behind his back. She smiled again and kissed his cheek.

Ralph cleared his throat.

“You know I don’t care, but technically you’re not supposed to be touching at all.”

David nodded.

“I know. It’s good to see you.”

“You as well. Are you ready to face the music, David?”

“No, but I don’t exactly have a choice.”

Katherine squeezed his hand one last time before letting go and following her brother’s lead. David looked ridiculously nervous but there wasn’t much she could do about it. As they walked towards the sitting room, the volume of the chatter and laughter increased.

It was a full house tonight. All five of Katherine’s siblings were there, as well as Ralph’s fiancée, Margaret; their uncle, Albert; their parents; and the children’s nanny, Mary. Katherine suspected her parents had done this on purpose to intimidate her date. She would have told David if she had known ahead of time but she hadn’t, which was probably the reason he looked so sick as they stepped into the room.

“Ah, Katherine, darling,” her mother said, “introduce us to your young man.”

When Ralph stepped out of the way so that people could see David, Pulitzer froze.

“You.”

“Father, please, be civil,” Ralph said tersely.

“I’m sorry, do you know this young man, Joseph?” Mrs. Pulitzer asked. “What’s your name?”

“David Jacobs, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having me in your lovely home.”

Pulitzer didn’t say anything as David was introduced one by one to each family member, he just stood still.

“Joseph,” Mrs. Pulitzer said, as David stood awkwardly, waiting for a greeting before sitting down, as was proper. Katherine tried not to be too proud of him for staying so composed but it was hard. “What’s wrong?”

He ignored her and turned to Katherine.

“Did you do this to incite me, Katherine?”

“What? Of course not! I like David because I like David. Believe it or not, not every second of my life is spent trying to find ways to frustrate you.”

“Too many of them are,” he grumbled. “Fine.” He walked towards David and shook his hand aggressively. “I trust you’re well, Mr. Jacobs.”

“Yes, sir, and yourself?”

“Fine.” He sat and Ralph invited David to sit in between himself and Uncle Albert. Katherine really wished that he was allowed to sit next to her instead. She wanted to give him a kiss on the forehead and make him feel better.

Maybe she was projecting, though. It was entirely possible that she felt worse than David did at the moment. After all, he had fought her father on a much more public stage than this sitting room and had come out on top.

“How is it that you know David, Father?” Constance asked.

“David sells my papers. Don’t you, boy?”

His wife glared at him.

“Yes, sir, I do,” David said proudly, although Katherine could tell it was mostly an act.

“Oh,” he mother said, “so…you’re a newsboy then?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“David’s also a student at St. George’s,” Katherine interjected.

“Are you?”

“Yes, ma’am, I am. Right now I’m taking some time off to support my family but I hope to graduate at the end of this year.”

“What is it that you want to do?” Uncle Albert asked. “Any ambitions?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet, sir.” While that was technically true, Katherine knew he had ideas of what he wanted to do, neither of which it was likely her father would approve of. David thought he might want to be a labor organizer of some kind, but there was zero money in that.

His other idea, the one he had had for a long time, was that he might want to be a rabbi. He wasn’t sure that he did anymore, or so he told Katherine. She knew that her father would eventually realize just how brilliant David was and that when he did, he would be upset if he didn’t spend his life as a writer or politician or mathematician or something of the like.

“That’s certainly a twist,” her father commented. “The lady with career aspirations and the boy without.”

“I have aspirations, sir, I’m just not sure through which career I’d like to channel them.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Katherine saw both Edith and Ralph make little tick marks in the air that, had she not been looking, she wouldn’t have noticed. They had told her earlier that they would be keeping score to see who won the night: their father or David. Katherine thought they were ridiculous.

“And how did you meet our dear Katherine?” Mrs. Pulitzer asked him.

“During the newsies strike, ma’am. She was invaluable to the cause and it was an honor to have her write about it.”

Pulitzer huffed but Constance spoke before he could say anything.

“Can one of you tell us the story? I want to hear how you met.”

Katherine looked to David.

“The floor’s yours, miss.”

She almost choked on nothing when he called her that. She should have been expecting it, she supposed. The boys often mocked David about the formal rules he had had to follow at St. George’s. It made sense that he would have been schooled in etiquette.

“Well,” she began hesitantly, “I met David’s friend Jack a few days beforehand. The strike began and when I learned he was their leader I went to find him and I met David.”

Constance looked to David inquisitively.

“Newsies have leaders?”

“Uh, yes, miss,” he answered a little awkwardly. “I was surprised to learn how structured the newsboys and girls of New York are. The person Ms. Pulitzer was referring to, Jack, is the leader for lower Manhattan and the president of the union which is citywide.”

“Are you a leader?”

“No, miss, not really.”

“He’s being modest,” Ralph said, clapping him on the shoulder. “David’s the union’s vice president, right?”

“Um…yes, sir, technically.”

“Well are you or aren’t you?” Pulitzer asked.

“Yes, but there’s politics involved, sir.”

“Yes,” Katherine took over for David, who sent her a thankful look, “like David said, it’s surprising how structured it is and how complicated.”

“How does it work?” Her father suddenly seemed curious.

“Fath-”

“I’m asking Mr. Jacobs. How does it work?”

“I…I’m sorry but I can’t discuss that with you, sir.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m loyal to the union.”

“So not to my daughter then?” Katherine was going to scream at her father later for putting David through this.

“I’m very loyal to your daughter, Mr. Pulitzer, but it’s not her who’s asking.” There was a moment of tension (in which Ralph and Edith each made another tick mark). Luckily, the dinner bell rang.

In the dining room, David pulled out Katherine’s chair for her and once she was seated, he sat between Ralph and Joe.

The impression Katherine had gotten was that this would be a dinner that David happened to be attending, but it was quickly becoming clear that it was more of a dinner about David or, more accurately, about interrogating him.

“Tell us about your family, David,” Uncle Albert requested.

“There isn’t much to say, sir.”

“Nonsense. What does your father do?”

“He worked in a factory until recently.”

“But not now?”

“He was injured,” David explained.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” her mother said. “When was this?”

“About three months ago.”

“Is he any better?”

David smiled tightly.

“Some days are better than others.”

“So, he didn’t study then?” her father asked. “He’s uneducated?”

Katherine could practically feel David bristling. Most of the adults at the table gave her father pointed looks.

“He’s educated. He was a teacher back in Poland.”

“You’re immigrants?” Margaret asked. “When did you move here?”

“Almost ten years ago, miss.”

There was an awkward silence

“Why?” Joe asked, completely unaware.

“Let’s move on,” Ralph suggested. “What type of teacher, David?”

“Religious. He was the melamed in our village.”

“David’s mother was a surgeon’s assistant,” Katherine said, earning herself a glare. David was probably worried that her family wouldn’t approve and while outwardly that may have been true for some of them, they would be secretly impressed.

“Was she? Fascinating,” her mother said.

“Do you have any siblings?” Joe asked. “Because if you don’t you can take some of mine.” Her parents tried to look stern but everyone else laughed.

“I have two,” David said. “A sister and a brother.”

“They’re both great,” Katherine told her family.

“You’ve met them?” her uncle asked. “Have you been to Mr. Jacobs’ home, then?” He looked like he was about to lose it.

“No,” Katherine assured. “Les is a newsboy and Sarah helped with the strike. So no, I haven’t been. Yet.”

“He’ll be fine, Katherine,” Margaret told her as they sat in the sitting room after dinner, “Ralph will make sure of it.”

David was in her father’s study with her brother and uncle, and Katherine was sitting with the other women and her younger brothers. She could picture the tense look on David’s face. He was likely miserable and it was all because of her.

“He’s very charming, dear,” her mother said comfortingly.

“Yeah,” she replied distractedly. “What do you think they’re talking about?”

“Oh, you know your father. He’s probably boring him with business and-”

“He’s not going to talk to David about business, Mother.” She turned to her. “What do you think of him?”

“I already said that I think he’s charming.”

“So is President McKinley but you don’t like him.”

Her mother sighed.

“He’s very sweet, Katherine, and clearly he cares about you a lot, but…darling, he’s penniless.”

“I don’t care about that. It’s not like we’re exactly lacking in funds.”

“It’s inappropriate to marry outside of your social class.”

Katherine and David hadn’t discussed marriage yet. Why would they have? They’d been together for less than two months. She knew, however, that courtship usually revolved around the idea of getting married and so it made sense that her mother would be thinking about it.

“Who cares? I’ve met the type of men you’d prefer me to marry and I’ve been mingling with them my whole life. The handful of people you and father expect me to choose between…David’s better then all of them put together.”

“Katherine-”

“He’s smarter, too.”

“You don’t know that.”

“He’s seventeen and he and a bunch of friends beat Father, Reid, and Hearst.”

“Katherine!” Her mother looked scandalized.

“Well, they did,” Edith mumbled.

“I get that you have concerns but I’ve already told you how I feel.”

“And how’s that?”

“That I’ll marry who I want, when I want, or I won’t marry at all.”

“Marriage is wonderful, sweetheart. It’s very rewarding and-”

“I’m sure it can be with the right person but none of the men you like for me are.”

“Then we’ll find someone else.”

Katherine shook her head adamantly.

“No. I like David.”

“Why, because he’d let you pursue your career?”

“He wouldn’t let me do anything. We see each other as equals.”

“Would he convert?”

“Did Father?”

“Would you be expected to convert?”

“I don’t know! Look, Mother, we haven’t even begun to discuss marriage. We’ve gone out together once and we’ve known each other for less than three months.”

“People marry in less than that.”

“Good for them. That isn’t what I want. Besides, he has to graduate first.”

“That’s another thing, Katherine. He’s not even graduated!”

“Neither was Ralph when we met,” Margaret pointed out. Katherine gestured to her.

“He wasn’t graduated from college, Margaret, there’s a difference. Does he plan on attending college?”

“I don’t know. Mother, I have to get to know him better. Can we just drop it for now? The whole marriage thing?”

“If you’re going to be courting him then you should talk about marriage.”

Katherine rolled her eyes.

“It’s different now.”

“Courting is a much better way to find a relationship. Katherine,” she said with a sigh, “you’re my daughter and I love you dearly. I only want what’s best for you.”

Katherine got up and went to sit next to her mother, taking her hands in her own.

“I know that, Mother, and I love you too. But just because it’s what you think is best for me doesn’t mean it is. If…if it makes you feel any better, I can envision myself having a future with David.”

“Do you love him?”

Katherine smiled.

“It’s too early for that, but I think I could. He’s…Mother, he’s the most amazing boy I’ve ever met. I don’t love him yet but I love things about him.”

“Like what?”

“He’s kind and generous and sweet and thoughtful and selfless to a fault. I know what Father expects for me in a husband but just because he isn’t rich doesn’t mean he can’t be those things. He’s brilliant enough to have gotten a scholarship to St. George’s. If Father is so concerned about the intelligence of who I’m with then David passes that test with flying colors.”

“That’s true,” Margaret said. “He kept up very well with the boys’ political talk and he seems to be an excellent conversationalist as well.”

“See?” Katherine gestured to Margaret. “I’m not the only person who thinks so.”

Her mother scrunched up her face as if she was thinking very hard

“You’d want to go by the name Jacobs instead of Pulitzer?”

“I already don’t go by Pulitzer professionally.”

“Where would you live, hmm? In a tenement? In the slums?”

“Mother, I told you I wasn’t thinking about marriage yet.”

“Well, you have to be! Do you want me to help you with your father or not?”

Katherine perked up.

“You’re okay with David?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea but he’s a lovely boy and I know that nothing I could say would dissuade you. I’ll give you two more months, and then you have to at least discuss marriage with him.”

“But, Mother, he-”

“Deal?” she repeated, leaving no room for argument. Katherine sighed but acquiesced. “Good. Once you do that I’ll talk to your father.”

“He would be angry about it for at least the next month even if I never saw David again, you know that.”

“And I’ll defend him but I won’t fight for his blessing until you-”

“I don’t care about his blessing,” Katherine argued.

“You do. Even if you don’t care about his opinion, he’s the one providing for you.”

“I have a job.”

“You think you’d be able to live like this on your salary?”

Katherine didn’t say anything. Margaret did her best to move the conversation along but the other girls only wanted to hear about David.

“Come on, Kitty, what was the first thing he said to you?” Constance asked.

“I don’t remember.”

“Why not?”

“Because there were about a million other boys in the room and I didn’t know I’d end up being interested in him so I didn’t pay that much attention to memorizing it.”

“You’re no fun. Does he tell you you’re pretty?”

“He has. And I think he’s pretty too.”Her sisters giggled.

When her mother left the room briefly, Edith looked around conspiratorially and asked, “Has he kissed you?”

“That’s an inappropriate question, Edith,” Margaret scolded. “That’s not our business. And don’t let your mother hear you asking it.”

Joe rolled his eyes.

“I don’t get it! Why would anybody want to kiss anybody else?”

“You’ll get it when you’re a little bit older. I didn’t want to kiss anybody at your age either, Joe.”

“And now you want to kiss my brother? Gross.”

“Hey, that’s not-” Margaret cut herself off when the men returned to the room.

“Say goodbye to Mr. Jacobs, everyone,” her father said sternly. When they did, Ralph offered to walk with him to the door so that Katherine could go too. Her father didn’t look happy but he didn’t comment.

In the foyer, Katherine wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you, David. I’m sorry you had to sit through that.”

“That’s okay,” he said, “I don’t mind.”

“Did my father break your soul in there?” she asked.

Ralph and David chuckled.

“Actually, Father wholeheartedly approved of his choice in whiskey.”

Katherine stared at David questioningly.

“Where did you get that, by the way?”

“Denton has an absurd amount of alcohol in his apartment.” She laughed. “Thank you for inviting me. I hope I didn’t embarrass you too badly.”

Ralph turned away to give them some semblance of privacy.

“Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t embarrass me at all.”

“Really?” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, good. Do you think your family liked me?”

“My siblings and Margaret loved you and I think my mother tried her best not to, but did anyway.”

“And your uncle? I’m not even going to aim for your father.”

“I can never tell what he thinks but don’t worry, he’s moving back to Europe soon, so who cares?”

He laughed.

“I should probably go so I’m not chased out.” David took her hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it softly. “Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you. Can I come by your selling spot tomorrow and see you?”

“Please do. Good night.”

“Good night.”

He said good night to Ralph and left.

“How did it go in the study?” she asked him.

“It went about as well as can be expected. Father tried to embarrass him and David didn’t let him. He’s quick, that boy of yours. But he was also respectful so Father can’t say anything on that front.”

“I’m glad. That’s a relief.”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone who has clearly never been in high society before be so versed in the ridiculous etiquette of courtship,” he said, walking with her back to their family. “I know he was taught it at school, but still. Most of the other boys have occasion to use it.”

“Now he does too, if our father doesn’t disown me first. So, yes? You think it was a success overall?”

“Well, I have to confer with Edith but by my count-”

“Shut up.”

#newsies #newsies fanfiction #a new beginning series #katherine pulitzer #katherine plumber #david jacobs #davey jacobs #davey/katherine #daverine #stella writes stuff

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