Ghost

39

"Would you relax!? You're gonna be just fine" Maddie gently spoke as she sat on Peters bed watching him pace back and forth stuffing things in his backpack. "I'm sure New York won't crumble to pieces while your gone for, what like 8 hours?".

"Yeah but what if Gino's down the road gets robbed again? Whose gonna stop the bad guys?" Peter threw his hands into the air.

"The police maybe? Anyways the owner Mr Bennotili installed a new security system. It's a pretty good one too".

Peter left out a frustrated huff and plopped down onto his bed, his head settling on Maddie's lap. "Maybe I just wanna stay here and spend time with my girlfriend. Is that a crime?".

"As much as I'd love to spend time with you also, you need a break, even if it's just for a day" Maddie giggled as she twirled Peters little curls in her fingertips.

"I can tell them I'm sick"

"Don't be stupid, you're going. You've been excited about this trip for weeks. I'm gone half deaf from you talking about it." Maddie laughed again as she nudged for Peter to get up. "I've got to go anyway. Dad wants to go for a walk, just the three of us".

"Stark family walk. That's cute" Peter joked before Maddie launched a pillow case at his head.

"He's on this new well-being diet. Something about keeping his body in good shape for retirement". She began to gather her stuff and make her way to the apartment front door.

"Just please have fun and try not to think about any Spider-Man stuff, ok?" Maddie turned to Peter who had followed her to the door.

"I won't, I promise. I'll call you when I get back." Peter smiled back, pushing a stray hair in-front of Maddie's face behind her ear.

The two teens shared a quick peck before saying there goodbyes, Maddie hurrying out the door.

****

"Slow down, slow down. I'm totally not kidding." A serious face Tony jogs in-front of Pepper Potts.

"You're totally rambling." Pepper laughs slightly.

"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?" Tony's hands start flying in all directions.
"and then you're like, "Oh my god, there's no bathroom, what am I gonna do?" "Oh! Someone's watching." "I'm gonna go in my pants.""

"Right. And then you wake up, and in real life you actually have to pee." Pepper nods along. "Everybody has that".

"Right! That's the point I'm trying to make. Apropos of that, last night, I dreamt, we had another kid. So real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name? Morgan! Morgan."

" If you wanted to have another kid, you wouldn't have done that." Pepper laughs, pointing her finger at Tony's chest.

"But don't you think Maddie would thrive with some healthy sibling competition. I've never had a brother, but if I did, you can bet your ass I would have shown that kid up every chance I got"

"What are you complaining about now?" Maddie appears behind the two adults, causing them both to jump.

"Maddie, what a wonderful surprise." Pepper turns and smiles at the girl, holding her hand to her chest.

"I don't know if you've ever seen a watch Madison, but we decided that this little family activity would begin at 9:00am. It is now 10:30am" Tony puts on a annoyed facade.

"Sorry Dad, I was just helping Peter get ready for his day trip. Well, really I was keeping him from staying home to fight crime."

Tony dramatically threw his eyes up to heaven. "I should have guessed. My fault. Next time give us the heads up before you sneak up on us like that again. You know I hate surprises that don't benefit me financially!"

Walking on, Tony threw his arms around Maddie and grabbed Peppers left hand, tracing his fingers over her engagement ring.

"Yeah. You know what there should be? No more surprises. We're gonna have a nice dinner tonight. Show off this Harry Winston. Right? And we should have no more surprises. Ever. I should promise you."

The conversation between the three flowed as they walked through a quiet park. Everything was normal. Too normal.

Within seconds, an orange spark appears in front of them and began to grown until a doorway was formed. Out stepped a man with a red cape draped over his shoulders and his hair neatly sitting on his head.

"Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me. Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way."

"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets or something?" Tony looked puzzled.

"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake." Stephen emphasised.

Maddie and Pepper both rolled their eyes.

"And who's "we"?" Tony asks. Behind Stephen emerged a familiar figure.

"Bruce?" Maddie gasped as Tony stared straight at a friend he hadn't seen in years.

Tony walks towards Bruce and envelopes him into a hug, mumbling a "You okay?". To which Brice slightly nodded.

Pulling back from the hug, Tony had a good look at Bruce. Nothing much had changed, just the fact that Bruce's face no longer held the optimistic vibe it usually had. He seemed more dull, as if his whole world had ended.

"Will you help us?" Bruce asked with beg in his eyes.

"Sure, we'll see what we can do" Tony nodded.

"I'm sorry, "we"?" Stephen interrupted.

"Yeah. What you didn't think I wouldn't bring my prodigy here?" Tony points next to him at Maddie who smiles smugly. "If it's brains you need for your little hiccup, two Starks are better then one"

Stephen looked Maddie up and down. On the outside, Maddie stood her ground and stared straight back at him, but internally she was screaming.

Standing in-front of her was a wizard and a magic portal. How does one comprehend that.

"Fine, she can come. But Stark this is no daycare centre".

"I would be insulted if you were not floating right now" Maddie spoke numbly.

The two Starks and Bruce followed Stephen through the portal.