I Thought You Were Different: Part 4

Maggie

WARNING:  ANGST like I haven't done before.

"That's right, Mags, open those beautiful eyes for me," Tony cooed, holding the tiny girl tightly to his chest as he rocked back and forth, smiling widely when he saw the deep color in them as they stared back at him, "there they are. Hello, sweetheart, that's my girl. You see, I knew that you were going to be another good kid. All of the smart grandkids listen to Grandpa Tony." He was sitting next to her crib, fully clad in a protective gown and gloves as to not expose her to unnecessary germs, fighting the unbearable urge to kiss her; he wanted to touch her with his bare hands and to connect to let her know that he was there for only her. He had been reading books on ill infants non-stop, and remembered how skin-to-skin contact was vital, but he knew that the risk was still too great just yet until they knew exactly what she was facing.

The little one tried to respond with a gurgled coo, but her voice was held silent by the tube that helped her to breathe. She squirmed in Tony's hands but he held her still, bringing her closer to him with a gentle stroke of his hand over her head.

"It's okay, sweetie, I know. That silly thing won't be in the way much longer. You just keep fighting it though. We don't give up in this family, alright?" Tony watched as Maggie closed her eyes again and seemed to drift off to sleep, lowering her down to lie atop his legs though not relaxing his protective hold. His focus was broken for only a second when he saw Steve enter the room from the corner of his eye.

"Hey, Cap. I was just getting ready to put her back in her bed, but once you suit up I can hand her over."

"No, that's okay," Steve mumbled nervously, "go ahead and just let her rest. I can come back later."

"Steve, you haven't held her even once," Tony argued. "Let me help you."

"No, Tony...it's...I can't."

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not."

"You're lying."

"Huh," Steve scoffed, "and here Grant said that I was getting better at it." He hadn't moved from the doorway, pushing himself back against it with a resolve to not make any move closer to him or Maggie just yet. "I'm afraid that if I hold her, then all of this...it's going to be real, Tony. I'm scared that I might hurt her more than I already have."

"You can't blame yourself for this, Steve. There's nothing that you could've done to stop it."

"But I could've fixed it," he snapped back, "that's what everyone is thinking, right? That's what you're thinking right now. If I had let (Y/N) get her way and bring the serum here, isn't that it?"

"It's crossed my mind, yeah," Tony agreed, not at all reluctantly, "but I think you had a valid point too. Look at her. It might have been too much for her to take."

"That's really generous of you, thanks for that."

"Hey, I'm not here to blow sunshine up your ass-"

"Uh, watch the language around my daughter, please. Learning too much about Grandpa Tony now is definitely too much for her."

~~~

It didn't take long for your body to recover, per usual, and now that Maggie had been born, your energy level was beginning to rise much faster. Since the doctors at the hospital really didn't have a great amount of knowledge or experience on working with an enhanced person such as yourself, Bruce had come in to work alongside them to help as much as he could. After a few tests on the two of you, and now seeing that you were quickly regaining your own health, he had determined that Maggie was taking everything that she could from you just to survive; thus far there were no indications that she possessed any powers or enhanced abilities that would have explained it otherwise from what he could tell. Now it was up to her to do on her own.