Morgan is beginning to grow jealous of Peter's relationship with her parents.
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Peter loved Morgan. At first, it was strange. He came back to life and suddenly there was a 4 year old girl that called Pepper and Tony, 'mom' and 'dad'. He wondered if things would ever be the same again. Like they were before the Snap. Because surely Tony and Pepper would love Morgan much more than Peter. She was their biological daughter and he was just a kid that Tony recruited for a mission. He hoped that deep down, they still loved him. That things would be like they once were.
Peter was wrong. Things weren't the same. They were much better. The Snap brought them closer than they were, and Peter knew that it was the only good thing to come out of it.
He went round Tony and Pepper's house almost every day. Played games with them, ate food with them, talked with them. And he got used to Morgan. They even formed a sister/brother relationship that made Tony and Pepper over the moon.
And everything was pure and utter bliss.
That was until Morgan turned 6 and Peter turned 18.
Peter didn't know what was wrong with Morgan. They usually played together all the time. He even got the dolls out for her in hopes that they could play together, but she just played by herself. When it was just them in the house, it was usually okay. She was nicer and talked more to him, but Peter still felt more like a babysitter than a brother.
Then when Tony and Pepper came home, Morgan forgot about him. She even ignored him. And Peter was confused. This went on for weeks and he never figured out what the problem was, and Pepper and Tony didn't seem to notice anything.
Every time Tony asked Peter if he wanted to spend time in the lab, Morgan would get upset. She would beg and beg until Tony gave in and spent time with her instead.
And when Peter would climb through the window with a Spider-Man related injury, Tony would help patch him up. Every single time. That was until Morgan walked in.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed.
"Hey Maguna, shouldn't you be asleep?" Tony asked her, hiding all the blood and trying to cover Peter's injury so Morgan wouldn't be freaked out.
"I want you to read me a bedtime story!" She said, glancing at Peter before looking back at her dad.
"You know I usually would, sweetheart, but Peter needs me right now. Could you ask your mother?" Morgan's expression suddenly turned angry.
"No! It has to be you!" She shouted. Usually Tony would give in and put her to bed. But Peter was injured, and there was no way in hell he was gonna leave him like that.
"Morgan, I can't. Ask your mother." Tony repeated sternly. Morgan suddenly burst into tears and ran up the stairs. Tony sighed and continued to clean Peter's wound.
"You can go to her if you want. I don't mind. I can do this myself." Peter said, holding back a wince at the pain.
"I'm staying here, Pete. She can't always get her own way. You need me." Tony explained as he began to stitch Peter up.
Peter smiled to himself before sighing.
"She's your daughter."
"And you're my son." Tony retaliated. That made Peter's smile grow even bigger. He still remembers the first time Tony called him that. He would never forget it.
A few days later, it was movie night. They had just finished eating dinner and were sitting down on the couch. Peter was just about to sit next to Tony when Morgan half-shoved him out the way and got there first. Pepper let out a laugh at his defeated expression.
"It's alright, Peter. You can sit next to me." She said and patted the spot next to her. Peter smiled and thanked her before sitting down. She ran her fingers through his hair once he did and the movie started. But then Morgan let out an annoyed shout and jumped up from her seat.
"No! This isn't fair!" She screamed at Peter. He sat up in his seat with a look of confusion.
"Morgan, honey, what's wrong?" Pepper asked.
"You don't love me anymore!" She said and crossed her arms.
"Don't be silly, of course we do! What makes you think that we don't?" Pepper continued and Tony edged closer.
"Him!" Morgan said and pointed at Peter. He felt very small in this situation, which is something he hadn't felt for a long time.
"What?" He asked in confusion.
"Morgan, he's your brother. There's no need to shout at him, okay? What's the matter?" Tony asked.
"He's not my brother! And he's not your son! Just because your own parents died, doesn't mean you can steal mine!" She screamed, her face turning red.
"Morgan H Stark." Tony spat. He was so harsh with his words that a flash of fear showed on Morgan's face and she ran off before she could be scolded. The three of them sat in silence before Tony tried to speak.
"Peter-"
"No, no. It's okay. I should go." Peter said, his voice shaking and tears building up in his eyes.
"No, you don't have to go. Please stay." Pepper said, but Peter was already getting up from his seat.
"It's fine, really. She's right anyways. I-I shouldn't be intruding on family time." He reassured them, but his words were definitely not reassuring.
"Peter, you are family. Please don't leave. I'll talk to her, just stay here, yeah?" Tony begged him before standing up himself. Peter didn't answer, he just stared at his shoes. Tony walked out and headed up the stairs to talk to Morgan.
"Can I get you a drink?" Pepper asked. Peter tried to talk to her. He tried to get himself to stay, but he was just so uncomfortable.
"N-No...I'm really sorry Pepper, I just...I'm gonna go. I'm sorry, tell Tony I-I'll call him later." Peter stuttered out.
"Peter..." Pepper said with sympathy, but she didn't stop him. He walked out the room and out the front door.
"Go away!" Morgan shouted into her pillow.
"Morgan, look at me right now." Tony ordered. Morgan whined and turned around.
"You upset Peter, Morgan. What you said was really mean. You need to apologize." He said.
"B-But he's stealing you away from me! You don't love me anymore! You don't spend time with me either!"
"Of course I love you Morgan. I love the both of you! Can't you understand that? I always put you to bed, I play with you, I do anything you want! You know why?" Tony explained, waiting for her to respond.
"Because...you love me." Morgan mumbled.
"Exactly, I love you. And so does your mom. But we also love Peter, and that's okay. You love him too, don't you?"
"Yeah..."
"See? People can love more than one person at a time. I love three! You, Peter and your mom. Maybe even more than that! Like your Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy."
"I guess." Morgan squeaked.
"Will you apologize to him now? You really hurt his feelings. You know how much he loved his own mom and dad." Tony said.
Morgan thought about it. She didn't realize how hurtful what she said was until that moment. She thought about her own parents dying, and even that made her start crying so she could only imagine how it must feel when they actually die.
Tony wiped away her tears and took that as a sign that she felt bad for what happened and she was ready to apologize. He was about to pick her up and take her downstairs to do so when Pepper walked in.
"He left." She said sadly. Tony sighed and stood up from his crouched position.
"He left because of what I said?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, Morgan." Pepper replied.
"Oh. I didn't mean it. Not really. I want to say sorry" Morgan pouted.
"He said he would call you later." Pepper turned to Tony.
"Not unless I call him first." Tony muttered and walked out the room.
"Peter? What happened, honey?" May asked when the boy walked in the room with a glum look on his face. "I thought you weren't coming home till later?"
"Yeah...I-I left early."
May could tell something was wrong so she ushered him over. Peter was about to walk over to her when his phone started vibrating. He checked it, and Tony was calling him. He declined it.
"Tell me what happened." May said once Peter was beside her.
"I just...I feel awful. And hurt. I'm ruining Morgan's life and it's making her...change." Peter sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"What do you mean? You and Morgan get along so well!" She said as she rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.
"I thought so to. I didn't even realize what I've been doing. I...I've literally been stealing her parents away from her. She's only 6! She needs them more than I do."
"Oh, Peter...I'm sure you're not stealing them away. Tony and Pepper love both you and Morgan equally! And yes, Morgan is 6, so it will be harder for her to wrap her head around that fact. She may be a little upset, but she'll understand soon. She loves you Peter. I've seen it myself."
"Yeah...I do really love her. She's so adorable and sweet. I mean, sometimes she can be...um...never mind." Peter mumbled and adjusted himself in his seat.
"What? What else happened?" May asked. Peter sometimes hated how observant she was.
"She just said something that...hurt me. B-But she obviously didn't meant it!" Peter said quickly.
"I'm sure she didn't." May said and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Pete. She'll come to her senses and you'll be one happy family again."
Peter smiled back, but he still couldn't shake Morgan's words. Just because your parents died, doesn't mean you can steal mine.
He knew she didn't mean it. But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.
Peter's phone started ringing again. He sighed and looked at it, and of course it was Tony again. He declined it. He knew the man was only trying to help but he still didn't feel comfortable talking to any of them yet.
"Thank you, May. I think I'm just gonna go work on my coursework for a few hours. Take my mind off things." He said as he stood up.
"Alright, sweetheart. Tell me if you need anything."
Peter was only 5 minutes into his coursework when is phone started ringing for the third time. He groaned and was about to hang up again when the call somehow got accepted. He fumbled around with the phone until he heard Tony speaking.
"Before you ask how the call got through, I hacked into it." He explained and Peter rolled his eyes.
"Please come back, kid. I'm really sorry about what happened and so is Morgan. If you come back then she can say it herself. Please?" Tony begged.
"It's fine, Mr Stark. Seriously, I'm okay." Peter said as he scribbled some notes down, trying not to let his thoughts wander back to what happen.
"If you were really okay, you wouldn't of left."
Peter silently groaned. He always sees right through him.
"Please come back. I want you here, we all do." Tony begged for the 100th time. "You can even stay the night if you want?"
Peter sighed. Tony knew how much he loved sleeping at theirs. That's why he offered it, because he knew he would crack.
"Okay, okay. I'll be there in 20 minutes." Peter finally agreed before standing up from his seat.
"Great, thank you." Tony sighed in relief. "Do you need a lift? I don't think you can walk here in 20."
"I never said I was gonna walk." Peter smirked before hanging up. He walked out his room, phone in pocket and spotted May immediately.
"I'm going back. Tony wouldn't stop begging." Peter told her.
"I told you." She smiled. "Have fun this time, yeah?"
"You got it." Peter called as he walked out the front door. He made his way outside, into an alleyway and fiddled around with his watch until his Iron Spider suit surrounded him. He swung off to the Stark's house.
As soon as he entered the front door, he was brought into a bone crushing hug by Tony. He finally let him go, after what felt like forever, and placed a hand on his shoulder, leading him into the living room.
"This way. There's someone who would like to apologize." He said and steered the boy to the couch where Pepper was sitting with Morgan. Peter immediately took notice of the girl's red eyes and felt instant guilt. He realized how stupid and childish it was to run out like that and scolded himself for it.
"What do you say, Morgan?" Pepper muttered to her and edged her closer to Peter. Morgan looked at the ground nervously before finally making eye contact with him.
"I'm really sorry, Petey. I was being very mean and I didn't mean what I said." She said with a wobbly voice.
As soon as she said those words, Peter didn't know why he was so hurt before. The girl was only 6. How could he be so upset at an innocent 6 year old girl who loved him? Who only wanted her father's attention which she should be entitled to?
"It's okay, M. I was being silly." Peter responded as he knelt down to her height. The girl's expression immediately brightened at his words and she wrapped her arms around Peter. He returned the gesture.
"You weren't being silly, Pete. You had every right to get upset. But we had a talk, didn't we, Morgan?" Tony said as he sat down on the couch.
"Yeah! Daddy helped me see that he loves me and you at the same time! And the same amount! And- And it made me see that I love you, Petey! As well as Mommy and Daddy!" Morgan explained with a smile on her face.
"I love you too, Morgan. And Mom and Dad." Peter smiled.