The idea popped in my mind and I thought, why not? This is Stark, anything could happen :)

Oneshot future-fic with main pepperoni and mentions of clintasha and steve/maria. oh, and robots/AIs are included.

Read and enjoy!

A Present Only He Could Give

"If this is Steve, go harass your not-wife. If this is Bruce, sorry pal, I'm busy. If this is one of the Bartons or both, call later. If this is Fury, I didn't do it…"

Pepper signed and hung up. She had been trying to reach her husband for the tenth time that day unsuccessfully, to talk about some meeting he had forgotten to attend. It had become a worrying routine lately, where he'd ignore her calls or barely speak to her over the phone. It had lasted the past five months precisely; starting about the anniversary of the…she swallowed heavily at the thought…miscarriage.

Two years ago, during a reception given for Stark Industries, a man had infiltrated the party with a gun and started shooting everyone within reach. Pepper was hit in the stomach and later at the hospital, had learned she had been pregnant. Unfortunately, the bullet had damaged something in her, and she was told she could never have children. The news of the loss of the fetus and any future child had hit them both very hard, but the couple had stuck together with the help of their Avenger family. That was, until the two years anniversary when they had seen a one-year old baby in the arms of his mother. The reminder had been sharp and painful and Tony had started to distance himself.

At first she let him. The first year had been tough on both of them, Tony hating himself for not being there for her and she mourning the loss of something she never knew she had. Two years apparently weren't enough to make him get over it. She thought he had gotten himself a mistress, maybe –when she felt gloomy –in the hopes to knock her up. JARVIS had confirmed he had been seeing people, but when she visualized the footages, they were professors and scientists and never stayed long. He was slipping away from her. It was a painful process and she just couldn't take it anymore. They needed to talk, the soonest the best, and even if it resulted in their divorce, then be it.

As if answering her thoughts, her phone rang. Tony. Pepper hesitated, not knowing whether she wanted to pick up or let in ring in retribution of all of the times he let her down. She let it rang. He left a voice message.

'Hey Pep' she blinked, he hadn't called her Pep in a long time, hadn't called her anything aside from the classical Pepper. She suddenly realized she hadn't seen or talked to him in four days. 'I need to show you something. Call me when you get this, please.' Was his voice uncertain or had she been dreaming? Was he over excited or on caffeine high?

It took her a couple of hours to make up her mind, but she somehow ended up at his lab. No need to call him back, this was the only place he had been lately. When she crossed the threshold, she saw him pacing, muttering to himself.

"There you are!" he exclaimed upon sight. He hurried towards her, his hands and arms covered with coal, eyes wide in overexcitement. Pepper lifted a hand up to his face.

"You tell me first what you're up to, I don't have time for this."

Tony shook his head and for the first time in weeks, she noticed the large circles under his eyes.

"I'm sorry Pep –working on a project –gotta show you –hope you like it." He was way too caffeine excited. The last time she had seen him in that state, he had found a new software to achieve a long-time project named JARVIS. Whatever he had done must have been big in his eyes –and probably in the technology field.

She followed him into an adjacent room and froze. Monitors were beeping quietly, thousands of wires linked to a huge platform. The platform was, in turn, connected to a huge vertical panel slightly inclined backwards, located in the middle of the room. When Pepper turned around the panel…Her hands flown to cover her mouth.

"Tony what have you done?" she asked with a mixture of horror and awe.

A teenage girl in her fifteens was held there, wearing a simple creamy-colored dress, arms parted and held by iron circles. Wires plunged into her back, neck and feet. Her eyes was closed, face neutral as if sleeping. She had dark brown hair falling on her shoulders, a sharp jaw, thin eyebrows and slightly curvy nose. She looked -Pepper realized, her heart skipping a beat- she looked like a young version of herself, with some of Tony's traits. Next to her, her husband looked torn between anxiety and pride.

"Her name is TIMA. Well it's a temporary name. I built her from pieces. Took me a while to get the skin texture straight and the sensors and the whole program to set her up…"

"Anthony Edward Stark" Pepper cut dryly, although her hands were shaking slightly. "What is…this?"

"Our daughter. Or what I supposed she would look like aged fifteen."

"Our daughter?" she repeated incredulously.

"I – it was just an idea." He mumbled, staring intensely at the floor. "We can't have kids. And while adopting is an option, we don't really have time to spare. I thought that if…"

"You thought that building a robot would make a decent replacement?" Pepper couldn't believe it; did that man's madness –or genius- had no end?

"She's different from other AIs I've built till now" he blurted, and Pepper felt a dreadful feeling come through her when he called it 'she'. He had already bounded with it. "I programmed her to have a learning ability, so she'll basically have a toddler's brain when she wakes up. And she'll be completely self-reliant. No need of electricity or batteries. She'll evolve like a normal child, learn faster yeah, but she'll react to emotions, make mistakes and learn to create her own personality from interaction with others. She'll be like a child in a need for parents. I thought…" he hesitated. "She won't wake up without you. She needs your handprint to be activated." He pointed two flat screens hooked to the main machine. "And I swear Pepper, if you…if you don't like it, I'll destroy her."

Pepper took deep breaths –in and out, in and out, she reminded herself –and tried not to hyperventilate. This was crazy. This was just plainly insane. How could he do something like that? How could he ever think a robot could replace a child in living flesh? And there was that hopeful look on Tony's face, the one he had worn when he had proposed, the one that let her know he wanted this more than anything. He was serious when he'd say he would destroy his work if she rejected it.

"I need to think." She blurted, and stormed out of the room.

Pepper nervously stirred her cup of coffee, eyes darting at the door every few seconds. She had canceled every meeting in had in check and called the only person that could give her some perspective. Tony was mad. There wasn't any other explanation. Years of grieving for their loss, the lack of communication lately…she shouldn't have allowed him to go on an engineering spree without Bruce. The lack of alcohol had lulled her into a false sense of security, had led her to think he was coping and dealing with the event in his own way.

He had, in a way. But not the way she expected it.

A flash of red hair appeared in the background and she finally saw Natasha enter the room. She was carrying her second newborn in a baby bag and a backpack in her hand. Pepper suddenly felt slightly guilty; Jeremy Barton was barely two months old after all and needed his parents' attention. And she was interrupting one of Natasha's rare day off.

"Sorry to call you on short notice" Pepper said immediately as she rose to greet her friend. Natasha smiled in spite of the deep circles under her eyes.

"It's okay, it sounded urgent."

Halfway in genuine curiosity, halfway to delay the real reason of their presence here, Pepper asked about the redhead's elder son:

"How's Philip?"

"Clint took him on a field trip in the woods. Don't worry, really, I had nothing else to do." Natasha replied patiently, leaving enough time to the CEO to compose herself. "So what's going on?"

Pepper took a deep breath and blurted:

"Tony built me a child."

Natasha blinked.

"Come again?"

"My husband thought that…given our situation" She didn't need to refer to the miscarriage or their lack of ability of having children, the assassin knew. "He'd build us a robot as a kid."

The redhead took a small pause to digest the information.

"He built you a…you mean a real android? A machine human-looking?"

"Something like that. He even gave her a name. Tima." Pepper wiped her face with her hand nervously. "I can't believe it. Why did he think I'd like the idea?"

"I don't know what's the more frightening, that he thought of building an AI kid or managed it at all" Natasha stated blankly. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I was hoping talking about it to someone would help."

The redhead was about to answer when the third guest started to wine and flap his arms. Natasha redirected her attention on her son, cooed him gently until he calmed down.

"How's this little one going?" Pepper asked, figuring a small distraction would help. She was Jeremy's godmother after all. Natasha smiled adoringly at the baby. Big blue eyes stared back as he chewed his fist.

"Clint calls him a mama's boy. He's just so…small and quiet. I can take him anywhere, he'll never make a fuss." She touched her son's cheek and the baby reached out for her finger. "Philip was always a demanding baby. Jeremy's different." An amused smile grew on her face. "Did you know only I can calm him when he's upset? Clint tries his best, but Jer will keep wailing until I hold him."

The baby kept his eyes wide open on his mother, as if careful not to miss a word of hers. If Pepper was honest with herself, she'd say she was pretty damn envious. The relation between Natasha and her son was so intimate and privileged. She wanted that too, and was bitterly reminded that she could never have it.

"How are the others?" Pepper asked as a mean to get that feeling off her mind. "I haven't seen Bruce or Steve in a while."

"Bruce is still in Colombia, as far as I know." Natasha replied immediately. "And Steve is trying to keep up with Maria's mood swings."

"Mood swings?" Pepper repeated, caught off guard. "Are you telling me…"

"Yeah, she's pregnant again." Natasha grimaced. "I only know because Benjamin spilled the beans when I babysat him last time; he is really excited to have a baby brother or sister."

"Why won't she just marry him? Steve is the perfect husband material" Pepper wondered half joking.

"Maria doesn't believe in marriage." Natasha replied. "And she thinks giving their kid Rogers' last name will put them in danger. Steve rarely goes to public places with Benji already."

"Does Steve really believe it's safer for them?"

"Maria does, and Steve…" Natasha paused. "Well, it's not really like he has the choice. I can't put a name on their relationship. Even Clint and I were tagged 'partners' but them? They keep going on and off. Steve had his own place, Maria keeps complaining about him being too old-fashioned and controlling. Yet they basically live together and are having their second child. I wonder how they keep going through their shit yet keep Benji the most balanced kid I've ever met."

Pepper chuckled and Natasha smirked. For a while, they sipped their drink in silence. The assassin eventually spoke.

"Back to your situation, I think Stark is trying to help by the only way he knows. We'll never be normal people. Heck, our kids' life will never be normal either." She smiled lightly. "This is something only he could do, and he's doing it for you. Whether you choose or not to accept it, just keep in mind he probably started it for you. If it doesn't make you happy…tell him. I'm sure he'd rather destroy his work than make you uncomfortable in the long run."

2 days later.

"I need to ask you a few questions before making my decision."

Tony had been so deep in reflection he jumped when Pepper bolted into the room. Her sudden appearance startled him, but he nodded and took a seat in the nearest couch. The woman stayed up and stared pointedly at him.

"You do realize she will never age, that she will never be able to go out with us officially, that one day she might stop working and if you aren't around, I will have no idea how to set her back." Pepper said.

"Jarvis will be updating her knowledge regularly, so if she has a problem he will be able to update her." Tony replied. "I also made her so she could make basic repairs and upgrade herself whenever she feels the need."

"You are not afraid of how her mentality will turn out? If you programmed her to think like a human, to react like a human, don't you think she won't create a mess? Jarvis can bypass the best firewalls. If she thinks on her own…"

"She won't" he assured her. "She won't, because we'll be there, we'll raise her to understand. We'll be her parents and she won't turn out bad. And really, look at all the villains we fight! they're not robots and they can do great damage on their own. But if it really happens" he added softly. "There is a self-destruction bomb near her heart. It involves a lot of protocols and passwords you'd have to learn too, but it'll be a safety."

Pepper nodded, and added immediately.

"And what about SHIELD? What about the army? What will happen when they discover her, when they hire someone to change her into a war machine?"

"If anyone touches her, I'll destroy them. Just like I'd destroy anyone who'd go after you."

"But why? Why did you go through all this, knowing I might not approve in the end? Knowing you'd probably have to destroy everything you've worked for?" her throat was tight, emotions ran through her head so quickly she could barely grasp any of them.

She wanted to slap the stupid man for being so stupid. She wanted to hug him for using his technology to help them through this. She wanted…she wanted a kid and as crazy as it sounded, she was warming up to the idea. Natasha had been right; they would never be normal people. The Starks were known for their advance in technology. Why couldn't they have an AI child?

Tony's expression softened.

"I want to make you happy Pepper. TIMA will be a unique prototype. I won't build anything like her again."

There was a hidden pain and hope in his eyes, something that made her heart clench and reminded her all the reasons why she fell for that silly man. He was truthful, she could tell. That alone sealed her decision.

"Where did you get the name TIMA?" she asked. Tony shrugged.

"It's a character from an anime movie. In a futuristic town, a mad scientist built an AI child to satisfy the demands of his rich patron. Actually, JARVIS found the name."

"I thought it quite fitting." The AI replied.

"Catherine." Pepper whispered. Tony glanced at her. His wife was looking determinedly at him. "I don't want her named after a robot in a movie. Name her Catherine."

"Catherine is from the Greek Aikaterinê meaning 'pure'." JARVIS helpfully imputed. After a second of reflection, Tony nodded.

"Catherine. Cathy, Kit, Rinny…" he smiled at his wife, and Pepper knew she had made the right choice. "I like it."

He had put on a nice pair of jeans and clean shirt. She had self-consciously picked up a simple dress and put on very light make up. If she was to meet her 'daughter' today, she didn't want to look like a mess but neither like a snob. And apparently neither did Tony.

"Right there" he mumbled, pointing at a small scanner. "Put your hand, it'll send recognition signals to TI –Catherine's mind and that will make her identify us as her parents. It'll also turn on her inner system and unlock the security."

There was still a chance it wouldn't work, Pepper knew it. Still, she hesitantly put her hand over the flat panel. A red laser scanned her to confirm her identity and a green light blinked. Next to her, Tony made the same gesture. The machine beeped. Waves of electricity ran through the wires and shook Catherine's body. A white light flashed, the machines groaned and a hissing sound echoed through the room.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Pepper asked worryingly, eyeing the girl as its body gave a start. Tony stood there and made a helpless shrug.

"I never tried this before." He admitted, still taking a step away from all the whistling and hissing of the machines. "Calculations are exact, I never tested on a live subject before."

A full minute ticked before everything turned quiet. During that long minute, something clenched in Pepper's chest. She couldn't say why exactly, something between disappointment and sadness, and surprisingly the same feeling when hope flies away. She realized if the experience failed, it would be like losing that unborn baby all over again.

Suddenly, the robot moved. It was a subtle gesture, more like a twitch, but the moment she did it, both held back their breath. The AI twisted and slowly opened her eyes. Pepper held her breath: she had Tony's eyes. Her face, but Tony's eyes. It –Catherine, Pepper corrected herself, the child, the teenager Tony had built for her- blinked once, twice. The iris moved right and left, as if taking in her environment. Then her gaze settled on the two people facing her. Catherine blinked again. It was fascinating to watch what she knew being a robot move like a human; awkwardly, unsure. Moving so slowly, testing her limbs. Pepper thought it was the most scaring thing she had ever seen.

But that last thought was quickly erased when she witnessed something way scarier. The robot –Catherine- stared at them dazedly. Her eyes drifted slightly on Pepper and after a terrifying pause (it could have been hours) her lips stretched into a small, shy smile.

So, what do you think?