I rode in silence on the plane back to New York. Peter, Steve, Bucky, Bruce, and Clint were all in the plane and we were filthy and covered in dirt, ash, and blood. No one spoke, not a word was exchanged between all of us. We were exhausted. The last day and half was spent sleepless, constantly fighting and running around, and full of too much for any one person to process.
I was laid down on my side and my head was in Bucky's lap. He was softly stroking my hair as I laid there. He probably thought I was asleep, but my mind was busy and clustered with thoughts. I craved sleep, the last time I did sleep I hadn't slept well as it was.
I felt the plane land and I sat up softly to see the sunset over the horizon of the city. We landed on top of the Avenger Tower from what I could see out of the window. Everyone looked half awake as they realized we had made it. Bucky's hand went to the back of my head and he pulled me in softly. He kissed the top of my head and I leant into him.
We exited the plane and I felt a wave of calmness wash over me. I was back where my journey had started all those years ago. I was happy to be back after not being here for so long, but not having all my people didn't help with all that.
"I need to go find Mindy and Pepper." I said softly to Bucky as we walked inside.
"That's where we were headed." He said grabbing my hand.
I followed him to an elevator and we went down to the parking garage. He directed me to a car and he got in and started the car up. I got in the passenger seat and we pulled out and onto the streets of New York. It was overly busy and I'm sure that was due to the fact people were looking for their families who had been newly returned. I had missed the city frankly, but my mind was filled with the thought of Pepper.
We pulled into Stark Tower and this place hadn't changed a bit. As soon as we were parked I jumped out of the car. Bucky chased after me as I made my way up to the lab. I nearly was sent running to the glass to see her. He however, stayed back and spoke to Sam who was already here and looked to be wrapped up in bandages.
She laid out on a bed and I saw a few workers surrounding her. She looked fine. Other than her sleeping, she looked healed and fine. Whatever they were doing they looked calm, but I couldn't tell what was going on. I was so confused, but before I knew it Mindy was at my side.
"How is she?" I asked anxiously.
"He vitals are perfectly fine, her injuries are being healed, but the blunt force trauma her head went through is causing issues." She said crossing her arms and looking to the ground.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Her mind is in a coma-stasis, she's reluctant to any drugs we give her. I don't have many answers for you at a moment, but she is alive and stable." Mindy said calmly but I could see she was upset. "I wish I understood more, but it's going to take a lot more testing."
"No one would understand this more than you, thank you Mindy. For everything." I said shaking my head.
"It's exactly why I wish I knew more." She said as he head lowered.
I saw doctors and nurses rushing around trying to treat those that had been brought her after the battle. So many faces I hadn't seen in so long now here in front of me. Most of which were roughened up but alive. That's all I could ask for given everything else I had just lost.
"If you want to come in I can see about fixing that gash on your cheek." She said bringing me back to reality.
"You've got your hands full as it is." I said laughing weakly. "I'll throw a bandaid on it and call it day."
"You Starks, always so stubborn." She said shaking her head as she walked back to her job. I had wondered if she knew of Tony, but I was not the person to break that to her, not yet.
I watched her walk away then my eyes shifted to Pepper. She was so calm and peaceful looking, but I knew it was anything but. I saw her hit her head and I knew it wasn't just a nasty blow. It was bad enough to have ended her life. I was lucky to see her in as good of a condition as I was.
I tore my eyes away and went back towards Bucky and Sam. What I didn't expect to see was Happy and Morgan coming through the elevators. I nearly stopped in my tracks as her face lit up in a smile as she came running towards me. I dropped down to my knees as she came running in for a hug.
"Auntie Val!" She yelled out and I squeezed her so tightly.
"Morgan." I breathed out.
"What are you wearing? Is that one of my dads suits?" She asked as her fingers traced over the lines and textures on my shoulder.
"Yes, actually." I said laughing softly because she was so innocent.
"Was there a bad guy?" She asked me.
"Yes, there was." I said softly but I then forced a smile. "But your daddy saved the day."
"Really, did he kick ass?" She asked and my eyes bugged out.
"Morgan, you can't use those words-"
"But daddy uses them." She said defensively.
"Yes and you're five Morgan, those are big kid words." I said sternly and her face dropped. "But yes, your daddy did kick ass."
She started giggling and Bucky came to our side. I picked Morgan up and placed her on my hip. She reached out and give him a big hug and hugged her back softly. He was tired, but I could see he was relieved. His relationship with her was always sweet and kind. Bucky rarely showed affection towards anyone, but he had a soft spot for her big time.
"Where's my mommy and daddy? Can we go see them?" She asked softly as she had a hand on each of us. I looked to Bucky unsure of how to even answer that. I mean surely we couldn't just tell her right away.
"They're super busy right now, Morgan. How about you come stay a few nights with us?" Bucky asked and I saw her eyes light up.
"Can I do his make up auntie Val? You promised last time!" She asked and I looked to him wearing a weak smile.
"You can even paint my nails if you want kiddo." He said and he kissed the side of her head. She lit up with excitement and I was thrilled to see her, but I knew someone was going to have to tell her. Maybe not today but she needed to know.
"I have an idea." I said looking to her. "I have someone very important that your daddy wanted you to meet."
"Really? Is it a puppy?" She asked and I just giggled as Bucky looked at me with confusion.
"Not quite, but close." I said with a soft laugh.
We walked outside onto the balcony area where I had seen Peter standing when we had first come in. He looked lost in thought as I'm sure we all were unless otherwise occupied. He turned to look at us and he looked vastly confused as we walked up to him.
"Woah, you guys have a kid?" Peter asked and I just smiled.
"Peter meet Morgan Stark, Morgan meet your uncle Peter." I said smiling down at her.
She looked a little nervous as she looked to Peter and I said Peter's face drop a little. He wore a small smirk and reached out to shake her hand. She was hesitant, but placed her small hand in his.
"Are you a super hero?" She asked and I saw Peter think for a moment. He was in his Spider-Man suit just without the mask so I'm sure she was curious.
"Yeah I think so." He said after a second and I saw her relax a little bit.
"How do you know my dad?" She asked.
"Your dad built me this awesome suit and made me one of the Avengers." Peter said struggling to speak.
"What can your suit do?" She asked.
"It's kinda hard to explain, but I could show you." He said pointing behind hind out towards the city and I saw Morgan's eyes light up again.
"Can I go auntie Val?" She asked looking up at me.
"Alright." I said smiling down at her.
I set her feet down and Peter offered out his hand. I let her go and she took his hand with excitement.
"Morgan's in charge!" I said as Peter picked her up. He shot his web and they swung off the balcony and I rubbed my temples out of stress because seeing a child swing from the sides of building wasn't exactly a comforting thought especially when being carried by another child. "Be back in 15 minutes and I mean it!"
"You okay?" Bucky asked me having his hand on the small of my back.
"I don't know how to tell her." I said watching as her giggled became distant as they went off on their way.
"We don't have to rush into it." He said softly.
"She's going to start asking questions eventually." I said shaking my head.
"And eventually we'll deal with it." He said wrapping an arm around me. "I mean if she's going to be living with us we're going to have figure out a lot more than just how to break the news."
"You'd be okay with her living with us?" I asked him turning to see his face. "I mean I'm hopeful Pepper will be okay, but Mindy didn't sound hopeful. I mean we haven't even spoken about this because kids can be a lot. Morgan is great I'm not saying that it's just-"
"Of course, who else would she stay with right now?" He said as if it was obvious. "I mean the Bucky from before wanted to settle down with a pretty girl have a few kids. Then a lot of things happened and made that impossible for the both of us, I just figured it was never going to work out that way for us. Given the circumstances and the last few years I don't see why not. I've already got my pretty girl, why not two?"
"That's a big role to take on Bucky." I said looking at him hesitantly.
"And I've never been more sure." He said pulling me in. "I've played uncle Bucky for half a decade, I guess that was just the warm up."
"Bucky-"
"We've got it." He said smiling down at me. "That's what you told Tony."
"I know." I said softly nodding my head.
"No one Tony knew would be more equipped except you." He said and he kissed my forehead.
"I don't know what I'd do without you." I said weakly leaning into him.
"You'd be just fine. Come on, let's go inside. It's about to rain." He said pulling me by my hand.
"Morgan doesn't have a rain jacket." I said turning to the city where they had gone off to.
"Peter has her Val, she's in good hands, but you need to relax." He said cupping my face.
"I wouldn't know relax if it hit me in the face." I said shaking my head.
"Clearly something did." He said turning my face over to look at the gash on my cheek. "That's going to get infected if we don't clean that."
"When we get home, I just want to go home." I said placing my hands on his cheek.
He smiled softly and kissed my forehead. I smiled softly and took a deep breath. We walked back inside where the others were and we walked up to Happy who was talking to Don.
"Where Morgan?" Happy asked.
"Peter took her on a magic carpet ride around the city, she'll be back in a few." I said smiling softly to him.
"I've arranged for a babysitter to watch her while we figure out about Pepper." Happy said as he nodded.
"Bucky and I will take her back to the lake, break it to her slowly and at home." I said looking at the two of them.
"What about Pepper? Even if she wakes up we don't know what she's going to-"
"Morgan can stay with us as long as she needs." I said clinging to Bucky's arm.
"Val, that could be forever if Pepper is gone." Don said. I looked up to Bucky and we didn't speak for a moment.
"Yeah I know, Tony would have wanted it this way though." I said solemnly. "Maybe it'll keep me out of trouble."
"Have you met the kid? She's nothing but trouble." Happy said and we all laughed.
"Something to keep our hands full." I said softly.
"Until the next bad guy comes around." Don said knowing me all too well.
"That's when we send her to Uncle Peter's house for the weekend." I said laughing softly.
"Sounds about right." Don said shaking his head.
"Keep me updated on Pepper, and everything else." I said. "You know I'll call if I don't hear back."
"Yes mother." They said.
"I'll meet you down by the car, okay?" I said looking to Bucky.
He nodded and headed down with Happy and Don. I walked over to the glass again and my eyes wandered over to Pepper. She was no different than she was just a little while ago, but everything in me wanted to ask her how she did it. How she managed everything when it all became too much. She used to manage Tony's company, his Avenger Career, and Tony in general and made being a mother look like a day off. I wanted to ask her so badly, but I knew nothing would come of it.
I stepped back from the glass and exhaled knowing I was hopeful for nothing. Pepper wasn't just going to wake up out of no where. Mindy was going to have to pull off some sort of miracle if she was going to make it. She had in the past, but who knows how this one was going to turn out.
I walked away not able to look anymore. I took the elevator down to the main floor to meet Bucky so we could go home. I walked out and saw light rain falling onto the pavement. Bucky was standing there talking to Peter and Morgan and she looked excited. I pushed the doors opened and I saw the wild look in her eyes. She held an ice cream cone in hand and I could see the sugar rush in her eyes.
"Oh my gosh, uncle Peter is the coolest aunt Val. He took my to Central Park and bought me ice cream! He even showed me the top of the Statue of Liberty! I didn't even know it was real, I had so much fun." She raved and I just smiled and shook my head.
"You are having a lot of sugar much to past your bed time." I said squatting next to her as the sun was setting over the city. She giggled mischievously and I shook my head playfully at her. "You know, since you're not going to bed anytime soon, you still owe uncle Bucky a make over when we get home tonight."
"I can't wait, I'm going to paint his nails pink." She said in a whisper as Bucky and Peter were talking a few feet away.
"I say we go home, order some pizza, get me and Bucky cleaned up and you can do all the fun things before bed?" I asked her and she did a little dance of excitement.
I stood up and offered her my hand and she took it and ate her ice cream with her free hand. We walked back over to Bucky and he looked at me with confusion and I smiled softly to assure him he was okay. I looked to Peter who was smiling softly now. Bucky reached down and picked up Morgan. She waved at Peter and he smiled as she went with Bucky to get in the car.
"If you need anything, hear anything, or even just if you just want to talk, you call me." I said as he looked to me. "I'll have Friday send you our address, don't be a stranger."
"I'll be alright." He said. "Are you going to be alright?"
"We'll be okay, we have to be okay for her." I said pressing my lips together. "Any time you want to come be uncle Peter you don't need an invitation."
"I just can't believe Tony had a daughter, I mean she's great." He said shaking his head and running his hand through his hair.
"Well she is definitely impressed." I said chuckling.
"I'm going to check on my Aunt May, see if my friends are alive, take a shower probably." He said laughing. "I'll call you in a few days once I get a grasp on things."
"It's been awhile, but I'm glad you're back." I said reaching out to hug him and I definitely agree he needed a shower, I think we all did.
"I wouldn't be back without you guys." He said hugging me back tightly. "Thank you."
"Stay out of trouble kid." I said exhaling and looking up to him and seeing Bucky and Morgan in the car.
"After being gone for 5 years I think I wanna take a minute, I don't know sleep or something." He said seeming confused.
"Good, I like that idea." I said crossing my arms. "Did you need a ride home? Queens isn't far."
"I've got a quicker ride home, more scenic too. Thanks Valerie, for everything." He said holding up his hands.
He was off swinging from building to building in a matter of seconds. I smiled as he went off on his way and I walked off to the passenger side of the car. I hopped in to avoid the rain and I got in and looked to Bucky and Morgan buckled up in the back.
"Ready?" He asked me.
"As ever."