Chapter Text
What will be of my life now?
They stay in the hug for a couple of minutes enjoying each other’s presence until they finally let go. Peter still has tears in his eyes and Tony keeps a firm hand on his shoulder, afraid he is going to suddenly disappear again. After a silent agreement to start walking, Tony grabs his kids’ hands as they find their way back where everyone else is, with Tony next to Morgan and Peter on each side of him.
They arrive in the living room where everyone is waiting to see if the plan to bring Peter back worked and sure enough, when they see him next to Tony they all rush to hug the boy and welcome him back officially, starting with Aunt May who rushes to hug him and almost doesn’t let him go.
After they all greeted Peter and hugged him, he went to sit next to Aunt May and Morgan while the rest of the team talked about what they missed on those 7 years. Pepper was asking about SI to Bruce and Rhodey, who were the ones in charge of it while she was gone. Nat asked Clint about his family and what she missed. Sam and Wanda kept exchanging stories of missions with Steve and Bucky. Carol seemed to be talking a lot with Nick Fury and Maria Hill. Then the guardians arrived for Peter Quill to take him back to protect the galaxy. Even Peter got to have a talk with Happy about his Aunt and what his intentions with her were.
Now, the world remembered the Avengers, the real story behind what they did and what had really happened. Everyone was reunited and Peter realized that it would all be okay. Maybe not right away, there were still a lot of things to come to terms with, but eventually, they would get there.
¤¤¤
The next day Tony called Peter to his workshop. Pepper and May had taken Morgan for a little girl’s day in the compound to catch up and talk so Tony decided to call Peter to have a lab day like they used to, and besides, he wanted to show him something he had prepared for his kid.
When Peter arrived they started working on both their suits, since they were damaged after the battle and they needed to update the coding and protocols. They exchanged some ideas, remembered a couple of stories and ate greasy pizza while DUM-E handed them the tools. It almost felt like no time had passed at all. Tony would look at Peter, who was so concentrated on his project to notice Tony staring at him, and he wondered how he was so lucky, maybe he had missed 7 years of his daughter's life and he would always regret it, but Peter had done the impossible to bring them back together, thinking about his kids and the family that he had and how they all managed to still be together after everything that happened, he couldn’t help but to feel in a good mood. Which is why he wanted to give Peter a little present he had prepared a long time ago.
“Hey Pete, are you there?” Tony called for him, waving a hand in front of his eyes to draw his attention.
“Oh hi,” Peter says back when he notices Tony “Sorry, I was really focused”
“I know. I just wanted to show you something”
“What is it?”
“Come here, follow me.” And he moves around the lab to one of the storage rooms that Peter has never been into before. It is closed with Tony’s fingerprints so Peter can’t tell what is inside. “I had this little thing planned for you, you know, before Thanos, so obviously I couldn’t give it to you back then when it all happened but now I can so… “ He puts his fingers on the lock and the door opens to reveal a car with its engine outside with pieces and parts all thrown around the floor.
“Is that… is that car? What happened to it?”
“Yeah, this is an Audi A7 C7, beautiful right? This baby right here is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 TDI clean diesel engine, it features a 7-speed S Tronic transmission, Quattro permanent all-wheel-drive system, five-link front suspension, continuous damping control shock absorbers, electromechanical steering, ceramic brake discs, rear floating-caliper brakes and 21-inch wheels. It’s a beauty.”
“Okaaaay. And why did you buy it?” Peter asks confused, Tony has a lot of cars.
Tony rolls his eyes at Peter because he knows the kid hasn’t figured out it is for him “It is obviously in need of repair, so I got it for you and me to work on it and fix it. And once is all new and good to go, it’s gonna be your car”
Peter is left speechless while staring at the car in front of him. When he finally manages to process what Tony said and answer something back, it comes out with his usual rambling. “I… I can’t… I mean, what? You can’t just buy me a car! This is too much!! I can’t accept it! No way, I mean, I would like to help you fix it and everything but there is no way that car is mine, I don’t need a car, you really shouldn’t have. We can repair it together but that’s it. You keep it and then you can, I don’t know, give it to Morgan? You can’t make me use it” Peter finishes to catch his breath.
“Wow, breathe Pete. And yeah it is your car. No returns or take-backs. You are going to use it. It’s my present for you. I was gonna give it to you before you left to MIT but… well. Now you can have it. What do you say?”
“I… it’s too much, dad. I mean, thank you but…”
“You know, we can finish those driving lessons in this car. You can use it to drive Morgan around when you are looking after her. You can use it to visit us once you are gone to start college.”
Peter is planning to eventually go to MIT like he had originally planned, and Tony knows it and now he is manipulating him to accept the car and Peter knows it, but he also likes it so with a resigned smile he goes to hug Tony.
“Thank you, dad. It’s perfect.”
“You are welcome, Pete. So, what do you say we get started on this, huh?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
Once they start working on a new project together, there is literally no one who can take them out of the workshop for a few days at least, so with AC/DC in the background, they start to work and Tony uses this opportunity to ask Peter about his friends. “So… have you spoken to Ned and MJ?”
¤¤¤
It had barely been a week since it all happened and it was still crazy to think about. Tony and Peter keep working on the car but also leave to spend time with Morgan and the rest. The entire team spends most of the time together catching up on everything, sharing stories and cooking a lot of food. While they are distracted, Peter decides he needs to talk with Morgan, just the two of them, like they used to do before. Besides, Tony was planning on cooking that Italian recipe from his mom, but only for Pepper, May, Peter and Morgan. He wanted to do a special lunch just for them and he had asked Peter and Morgan to help him cook. So Peter was on his way to talk with Morgan before Tony called them both to help him prepare it.
He went looking for her and found her in her room, well, the one that was supposed to be hers, they still needed to update it for her. It was a work in progress, the same with the compound and the rest of the rooms. For now, she was sleeping with her parents, which seemed to work for all of them since they didn’t want to let her out of their sights. They had already missed so much and they didn’t want to miss more. They were all still a little wary of leaving Morgan’s side and Peter could understand that. He had been there. Morgan was about to be protected by Tony in his full Irondad mode.
She was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, holding onto her Iron Man plushie, her head leaning on the wall and Peter could tell by her eyes that she was deep in thought. He used this little moment to appreciate how similar she was to Tony and Pepper, the little curve of her nose and the little freckles around them were all Pepper’s. Her hair and that glint of playfulness and curiosity in her eyes was all Tony, but also, most of her mannerisms were May’s too, the way she held herself and played with her hands when she was deep in thought like she is now.
He knocks softly on the door to draw her attention and she immediately opens wide her eyes, being caught by surprise, when she realizes is Peter, her posture relaxes a little.
“Hi,” She says while she smiles at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Momo,” Peter says while walking inside the room, taking the Spiderman plushie on the bed and sitting next to her. “No reason. I just wanted to talk to you, like the old times.”
“Old times? You mean last week?” She said with a bit of sarcasm that just screamed Stark.
“Yeah.” Peter chuckles. “It doesn’t feel like it, though. It seems like just yesterday I was calling your name in your dreams asking you to remember me and now we are both sitting here, waiting for dad to make his secret pasta recipe.”
“I really thought I was going insane when you did that. Who would have known you had all the answers I was looking for?”
“Okay, I can admit it was a little bit creepy to reach out to you like that” He laughs “But in my defense I was trapped and my options were limited”
“I know” Morgan laughs too “Thank you. It’s weird how it all happened. It seems like just last night I found you in my dreams like you said and now…”
“Now you have your entire superhero family here with you. I told you we would always be back for you”
“You did?” Morgan asks, confused. She doesn’t remember Peter telling her that. “When?”
“Before I sent you through that portal, 7 years ago”
She hits him playfully in the arm before laughing “Well, I obviously don’t remember that. And yeah it’s a little overwhelming”
“I know. Everything is about to change.” Peter tells her. “But for the better. This love that bonds us together is stronger than anything and I know we’ll get through this.”
They stay in silence for a bit until Morgan asks. “So… did you talk to them? Ned and MJ?”
Peter had told Morgan about his friends while they were still practicing for Morgan to create the portal. He told her that he kept an eye on them, they had gone to college and moved on with their lives, since they didn’t remember Peter, but once everything was back to normal Morgan assumed he would have contacted them.
“Uh…” Peter starts hesitantly. ”I did. I… uh, well, not exactly, Ned tried to call me first, but I didn’t answer because I was so nervous and it was just so recent and I didn’t know what to do or what to say… but then I talked with dad and he convinced me to call him back. So I did. And he is coming over next week. MJ too. They both want to see me and they can’t believe they forgot about me. I mean I explained everything and they know what happened but… it’s not the same.” Peter finishes with a sad smile, trying to hide his disappointment of his friends growing up when he didn’t. Trying to pretend everything is okay when it isn’t.
So Morgan does what any good little sister would do. She cheers him up using his own words against him. “Well, to quote some advice someone really smart once said to me,” She starts and clears her throat “‘Everything is about to change for the better.’ And I think he is right. I’m sure your friends can’t wait to see you again. And it will be different between you but not bad, you can learn new things about each other.” Morgan says with a lot of confidence for her age. “Also, I don’t think the age gap is an issue. I mean, technically you are like 15 years older than me and you are one of my closest friends. You are my brother.”
Peter looks up at her with a real smile this time. “Yeah, I guess you are right.”
“Oh, I know I’m right.” She smiles triumphantly “You’ll see.”
“You know, you have a very contagious smile,” Peter says also smiling while standing up and helping Morgan to her feet. “Okay, come on. What do you say I tell you another story? Before dad calls us to help with lunch”
“Sure, what kind of story?”
“Now, this is one of my most secured secrets. I have been waiting years, literally years to find the right moment to talk about this and share it with the team and I think this is it. I haven’t even told dad about it and I’m sure he is the one who will laugh the most”
“What is it about?” Morgan asks curiously, whatever it is, with that introduction, she really wants to know.
“Have you ever heard about Captain America’s PSA?” He says with a wide smile and a hint of mischief in his eyes, so Morgan can tell that whatever story is behind that smile, it must be really good and really humiliating for poor Steve, so naturally, she smiles back at her bother, takes his hand and leaves the room towards the living room where the entire team is, and where she has no doubt Peter is about to share a very embarrassing memory about the captain.
“Hello everyone” Peter greets them as he arrives with Morgan and draws the attention of the room. They all see them and greet them with smiles. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. I’ve always wanted to share this with you but I was waiting for the right time and now we are all here together at last and I think you are all ready to see it”
That catches the interest of the entire room, Tony stands up to be in the middle of Peter and Morgan to ask “Okay, what is this about kiddo?”
Peter winks at Morgan and answers “Dad, you are gonna love this.” He pushes both Tony and Morgan to sit on the couch with him. “FRIDAY? Can you please play those PSA I told you about?”
“Of course Peter. I have 13 videos stored in my database, would you like me to play them all?”
Tony looks at Peter with an implied question about what is happening but Peter just shrugs with a smile and answers the AI “Please FRIDAY.”
Steve’s videos start to play, the title ‘Rappin’ with Cap’ has everyone cackling already and then, in all his patriotic look, he stands there giving advice and talking about lunch, illegal fireworks, a healthy diet, how sexual reproduction works, detention and even the importance of math. They are all laughing so loud, some of them are fighting to catch their breaths for laughing so hard and the poor Captain starts to blush so red he needs to cover his face of the embarrassment while the rest of the team playfully makes fun of him, especially Tony, for even thinking it was a good idea to make those videos for the kids.
Morgan can’t help but laugh out loud too, she has one of the biggest smiles and it is not just because those videos were hilarious and Peter’s laugh is also very contagious, but because she realizes she is sitting in the lap of her dad while he is holding her, surrounded by her family, making fun of freaking Captain America while waiting to cook an Italian recipe from her grandmother with her dad and her brother.
There is a lot of love around, she imagined all this happiness and she finally has it, her dreams became true, that place she kept in her heart for when she found what was missing, it was finally there, it was her family.
The future never looked so bright.
THE END.