#That little flinch Amos makes when cap says “I’m asking you now” | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ad1thi · 5 years

Text

3000

this caps at 3676 words, which is the most ive written ever; and this fic is my absolute baby i have never slaved over something more so please give her some love

Morgan Stark was, is, a strange woman

She’s quiet where her father was loud, stoic where her mother is loving, calm where her family is grieving

She wasn’t always like this

She hears snippets from her mother when Mom thinks she’s asleep; of how loud and boisterous and full of life she was

The tipping point, her mother muses over a glass of wine to Zia Nat, was her sixth birthday party

See Morgan, Morgan isn’t like everybody else

Everybody else got back their father and husband and brother and son in the Great War

Morgan lost hers

She was 3 years old, but her father always said she was exceptionally smart for her age

but this, this she didn’t quite understand until she was 6 years old

She knew her father had died, he’d died saving everybody’s life of course she knew that (how could she forget when its all anyone talked about, its all she saw all around her, the consequences of his death) but she never knew quite what it meant until her sixth birthday

The house is loud, louder than it usually is

Mom has invited ‘round all of her friends, and all of Morgan’s classmates from school too

There’s a healthy amount of awe and wonder in the room, and Morgan; Morgan is sitting in her room watching the hologram her father left for her sixth birthday

God, you’re growing up so fast,” hologram-him says, six already huh tesero? six is a big year isn’t it, first year of elementary, carrying your own lunches like a borghese, god i’m so proud of you. i want you to remember to enjoy yourself this year huh tesoro? ti amo 3000

Its how her mother finds her, moving towards a hologram that frozen in the motion of cupping her cheek; and tilting her head ever so slightly to put into the empty space that his hand’s left

“mai?” Morgan whispers, when she feels a hand on her shoulder, “he’s never coming back?”

“No mon coeur,” her mother whispers, and she crumbles like a marionette has cut her strings

After that, she changes

She knows what’s expected of her

The daughter of Anthony Edward Stark, grand daughter of Howard Walter Stark, niece of the Avengers

(if anyone ever asked, she’d tell them how much she hated the labels)

She’s subdued in class, makes 2 friends her entire year and keeps to herself

(Riri and Kamala are blessings)

She’s whipsmart but she never raises her hand, runs like a dream but never tries out for track; and only paints when nobody else is watching

On her eighth birthday, when she opens the door to see Uncle Steve’s hopeful face; she closes it

“I don’t want them here,” she says, making it half way up the stairs before turning around and saying, “Maybe Uncle Bucky can stay”

When she’s 14, Uncle Bucky asks her what she wants for her birthday as they’re looking over the lake near her house and she says “I want you to teach me how to fight”

And he nods once

They start with the basics, hand to hand combat; and graduate to knifes and guns within a matter of months

He only asks her once why she wants to learn and she says, “My father was Tony Stark. It’s in my blood”

He smiles at all, all bloody from where she managed to clock his nose and never asks again

guardati tesoro mio, her father says on her fifteen birthday, all grown up and shit. do a little spin for your papa, let him see what you’re wearing

and its a hologram and she knows he’s not really there; but she spins anyway

fifteen, thats a big year right? Taylor Swift’s got a song about it and everything

He walks towards her, bending down so they’re eye level and Morgan swears she can feel their nose touching

it means you’re going on dates and shit, and i don’t know how i feel about that, his nose scrunches up like he’s smelt something foul, i guess i’ll just have to greet all your dates wearing the ironman suit huh. god thats a brilliant idea; weed out the weak ones by seeing who pees themselves or who gets overly cocky

Morgana he says, turning sharply from where he’s ranting, your dad is a genius, never forget that

“mai” she whispers into the open air, tears falling freely

Every year, her mother asks if she can invite the avengers over for her birthday, and every year Morgan says no

There are exceptions of course

Zio Rhodey, Zia Natasha, Uncle Bucky

Peter when he has time to spare, and Harley whenever he isn’t holed up in an SI workshop

but never anyone else

The first time Morgan brings Riri home and introduces her as her girlfriend instead of her bestfriend, an Ironman suit falls out of the sky

Her mother flinches back on instinct, Riri pales, and Morgan laughs until she cries

“Protocol: Tesoro is initiated,” intoned the automated voice before it shifts to the lilt of her father, “So, you wanna date my daughter”

“Yes sir,” Riri squeaks from where she’s hiding behind Morgan, and her mother is trying desperately not to cry

There’s a pregnant silence before her father’s voice says,”Her background checks out, you can date her”

and Morgan is turning to press her lips to Riri’s cheek; mindful of the glint in Riri’s eyes when she moves past the fear and takes in the armour, and thinks to herself no, i can’t

“Why Bucky,” her mother asks once, “You let nobody else in but you let in Bucky. Why Bucky?”

Morgan takes in a deep breath, “Zio stays because he’s the closest thing I have to a father. Zia stays because she’s the closest thing you have to a lover,” Morgan ignores the flush on her mother’s cheek, “and Bucky stays because he’s the only person who sees me”

“Je t’adore mama, but you see me and you also see Papa, they see me and they see Papa”

“Bucky? Bucky just sees me”

She’s 25 and still dating Riri, who’s around more than she’s not; now that she’s working under Zio Rhodey

It’s late at night, and Morgan extracts herself from Riri’s limp arms- shrugs on the first piece of clothing she can find, makes her way down the stairs

She takes in a deep breath, and turns on her father’s interface for the first time in 22 years

It’s still one of the most advanced pieces of technology out there; even if Morgan is cataloging all the ways she can make it better

“Pull up,” her voice cracks, ‘Pull up my father’s last project”

and in front of her, the room lights up in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted

She applies and gets a job at Pym Industries, and her mother furrows her brow but congratulates her all the same

She moves up the ranks seamlessly, except for one isolated incident when she drop kicks someone and sends them to the hospital because they call her little miss

Hope Pym adores her, and she gets privileges in R&D that she knows nobody else has

(she doesn’t know if its because she’s Tony Stark’s daughter, or because Hope genuinely thinks she’s that smart- but she doesn’t question it)

And there, after hours, in the laboratory where it all started; she puts her plan into motion

When she’s 27, Zio Rhodey falls sick

She’s in the middle of hour 73 of her work binge, and she’s so close to recreating the Pym Particles when an arm on her shoulder startles her and throws her into a defensive position

Her mind clears slightly when her would-be attacker’s head is between her thighs, and she scrambles back in shock when she realises its Riri

“When I said I was into trying new things in bed,” Riri’s voice is raspy from where Morgan’s knee pressed against her throat, “this isn’t what I had in mind”

“What are you doing here?” she asks, pointedly ignoring the bruises forming around her neck

“Its your Zio Rhodey,” she says solemnly, and there’s a tang in her voice when she says Zio; a word that doesn’t belong on Riri’s tongue, “he’s in the hospital”

Morgan is numb all over, going through the motions as she saves her work and slips on her jacket

She’s silent on the drive over to the hospital, fingers drumming against the door of the car

Logically, she always knew her parents were much older than most; her mama was on the verge of 40 when they had her and her father was pushing 54 when he died. She always knew that Zio Rhodey was growing old, but she never expected it to catch up to him quite this quickly

“Hi there squirt,” he whispers from the hospital room, moving up to clasp her face in his hands before groaning in pain

She rushes over and eases him back into a comfortable position, raising his hand to her mouth and kissing the back of his palm lightly, “What’s this then Zio Rhodey?”

He sighs, “The braces that your father built me gave out on me, and I fell down a flight of stairs”

She gets up, looking around for the braces, “I have a toolkit in the car I can tweak it a bi-”

She’s cut off when Zio pulls her down with surprising force, “Have I ever told you?” he asks, like she hadn’t spoken, “how much you remind me of your father?”

She slumps against the chair and indulges him, “Only everytime you see me”

He grimaces slightly, “I do say it a lot don’t I?”

“It’s only because I see so much of him in you squirt. His drive, his big heart, his desire to help everyone,” he nods slightly at Riri, “his taste in women”

He moves slightly when Morgan squats at him, cackling; and Morgan pretends the hand squeezing around her heart is fear that Zio might not make it the night

“I know I’m not your real father,” he says softly, reaching out to cup her face, “but I do love you like my own Morgana”

“And he would be so proud of you”

His eyes go glassy just then, washing over and un-focusing, and she’s about to call for a nurse when her Zio says, “Tony? Why the fuck have you grown out your hair then?”

and it clicks

Dementia

She turns to Riri to ask how they all could’ve missed this, but her gaze is furtive and it takes but a second for Morgan to realise that the only one who missed this was her

“How could you not tell me?” she roars, as Riri stares defiantly back, “he is my Zio!”

“He asked me not to, said he didn’t want to burden you while you were busy with your work,” Riri replies, “Plus, you never step out of that lab anywhere I was sure nothing short of a heart attack would remind you that he even exists”

“That is a low blow Ri”

“Is it?” Riri stands up, “I don’t see you, Peter and Harley work ‘round the clock to make sure Pepper doesn’t miss her daughter, and I cannot remember the last time you came over for dinner”

“My work is important!” she yells, but she might as well have been yelling into empty air, because Riri’s face hardens

“So are we Morgan,” she’s near the door when she turns back and says, softly, “I know losing your father hit you hard. But you still have a parent who’s alive”

Morgan and Riri break up the next day

Morgan always knew it was coming, ever since Riri became Ironheart

She just never expected it so soon

She keeps a constant vigil at Zio’s bedside, until the hospital kick her out

She can’t go back to her lab, not when he’s so fragile; so she cashes in all her leave from the last 3 years and shows up to the cabin with a large suitcase

“Morgan?” her mother’s grown so frail, and Morgan feels a stab of regret that she hasn’t been around more

“Je suis ici mama,” her mother crumbles against her like like there's nothing holding her up anymore, sobbing into her shirt

“Je suis désolé, ça a pris si longtemps”

Her mother bustles around the kitchen, clearly desperate for anything to do

“Mama,” she calls out a few times, before getting up and physically grabbing her mother in her arms and stilling her

“Mama its okay,” she says softly, guiding her to the sofa, “you don’t have to do anything”

“Mon coeur, you’ve come home after so long and I can’t even cook for you,” her mother has gotten so weak without Morgan noticing, and the guilt festers

Riri was right, she had forgotten about her mother, too caught up in her work

She runs her fingers through her mother’s hair, manoeuvring her so they’re on the sofa, “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long Mama,” she whispers

“but I’m here now”

Her leave gives her a full 2 months off and she splits her time between the cabin and the hospital, until Zio is ready to be moved to the cabin

She calls up Harley for the first time in 3 years and he comes down the following weekend, and they brainstorm over the ideas that her father left uncompleted

“20 years later and he’s taking me to school,” Harley whistles lowly, “not bad for a mechanic”

After dinner, Morgan curls up against her mother, who obligingly runs her piano fingers through Morgan’s hair

“Harley’s good at SI,” she starts off, “did business as a minor in Stanford”

Her mother hums, “I’m half convinced he’s your father’s bastard”

“You should name him CEO,” she turns so she’s facing her mother completely, “he’ll be good”

She stills above Morgan, “you,” she pauses and takes a breath, “you don’t want it?”

She shakes her head, and pretends like she doesn’t see how her mother’s entire body shakes

“Your father did always like to be left to his own devices,” she says finally and if Morgan tries really hard, she can pretend like she hasn’t disappointed her mother, “I’ll talk to the Board tomorrow, but they’re going to give me hell”

Her mother sounds so defeated Morgan almost takes it back, but the photo frame of her papa and mama catches her eye; and she holds her tongue

She finagles and negotiates with Hope, and gets permission to work from home.

(not that Hope had much choice, Morgan had set Pym Inc decades ahead of every company and finally put them in close competition with Stark Industries, but it was the principle of the thing)

A team of 5 come in and renovate the basement into a lab that’s workable, and Morgan breathes easier

She spends her days with her mother and Zio Rhodey, and her nights

working

“Pull up the simulation again,” she says into the open air and pulls apart the mobius strip, running each equation individually

“JOCASTA,” she calls out, “run the enhanced Pym Particles against my father’s software”

She rummages around the mini fridge for juice pops, sucking the first one in her mouth

“Simulation complete,” her best decision by date was to give JOCASTA an italian accent

She turns back to the screen, and stumbles back into her chair

“Shit,” she says, breathing heavily- looking but not comprehending the screen in front of her

“Shit,” she says again, because it bares repeating, because she is the third person to ever crack time travel

30 is a big year tesero, her father’s AI says as she slips into a red dress and walks down to greet the guests

After 22 years, she’s agreed to let the Avengers back onto the cabin; and the naked gratitude on Uncle Steve’s face when she moved aside instead of slamming the door like she did every year was another chink in that guilt deep in her gut

you’re so big now tesero, her father says, leaning against the wall when she wraps her arms around Riri and thanks her for coming

where does the time fly? the hologram dissipates when she comes near her Zio Rhodey, and she looks away as he dabs away a set of tears

“i’m sorry squirt,” he says when he’s settled a bit more, “the holograms still get to me I guess. But 30 huh?”

“Big day,” he says decisively before his eyes go glassy again

She wraps her hands around him, looking at the space left by her father’s hologram and thinks, you have no idea

Steve knocks on the door of the cabin, as he does every year

Sam is waiting for him in the car, stubbornly refusing to turn off the gas because she’s just going to turn us away man i don’t why we do this year every year

But he comes every year with Steve, so Steve suspects he knows why

(because Steve loved her father)

(because Steve killed her father)

(because Tony died to save everybody else)

Bucky left the Compound a few hours earlier, since he’d promised Pepper and Nat that he’d help with the cake

That had taken some time to get used to, the fact that Morgan allowed Bucky to be a part of her life and not Steve

(in the darkest parts of his mind, Steve admits that he hates it, that he wanted to be the one teaching Morgan to protect herself, to be the one loving her)

He knocks on the door and waits, and like clockwork Morgan opens the door and assesses him like he’s under a microscope

And then

She moves aside, letting him in

Steve’s knees threaten to buckle, but he holds it together just long to ask, “Are- are you sure?”

She stares at him mulishly, and Steve can’t help but compare it to a pre coffee Tony, “Are you looking to piss me off Rogers? Come in before I change my mind, and tell Birdbrain in the Maserati to turn off his engine because he’s killing the planet my father gave his life to protect”

Steve nods like she’s a drill sergeant and she shifts inside, seemingly satisfied with that 5 second interaction

Steve is on alert the entire party, flitting between being elated to celebrate Morgan’s 30th with her and wary that she’ll kick him out

She disappears upstairs once everyone’s trickled in, and comes down in a simple red summer dress, hair slicked back

There’s a hologram of Tony hovering behind her, muttering in her ear, and it knocks the air out of him, because he’s here but he’s not all at the same time and Steve dimly wonders if the pain of losing Tony Stark will get any easier

(from the glistening cheeks around him, and the surreptitious way Morgan wipes her eyes, the answer seems to be no)

The crowd moves around Morgan and her father, as if Tony’s really here instead of just a product of his tech; but dissipates into the air when Morgan goes over to Rhodey

Rhodey, who’s in a wheelchair

Everyone around him is frail and old, the signs of ageing so evident on their face and physique; while Bucky and Steve look like they’ve just touched 40

Morgan is settled down in Rhodey’s lap and laughing at something that he said, but there’s this gleam in her eyes that sits with Steve wrong, which is why he makes his way over to Peter

His relationship with Peter was hard work, almost a decade of back and forth before he let his guard down around Steve and joined the Avengers under his command

“Hey,” he says, smoothly cutting through whatever conversation Harley and Peter are having, “Mind if I borrow the spiderkid for a second?”

Harley spread his arms wide, “He’s all yours. Damn idiot hurts my brain”

“I’m only 4 years younger THAN YOU!” Peter yells the last part to Harley’s retreating back, huffing when Harley gives him the bird - before turning to Steve, “What’s up?”

“You have your suit on you?”

Peter rubs at his chest where the nanites are stored, “Always. Everything okay?”

“Yeah I just,” Steve sighs, “Something seems off”

“Ah the Cap sense, never gets old”

“Just be alert okay?” and he waits for a second before he adds, “and keep an eye on Morgan. I don’t want her getting hurt”

They’re in the middle of dinner when Steve notices her slip away, glancing back and forth before making her way down to -

isn’t that the way to Tony’s lab?

He looks up and catches Peter’s eye, nodding once before following Morgan

Its not easy, Bucky obviously taught her well, but Steve’s been hiding from Bucky since before she was born

She punches in the override code and slips in, and Steve has a 5 second warning to avert his eyes and she thumbs out of her dress

When he looks back, she’s slipped into something that resembles the undersuit Tony used to wear; but modified somehow

She’s very engrossed in the screen in front of her so its easy to follow her into the lab, but nothing can stop him from keeping quiet when he sees what she’s working on

“What are you doing with Tony’s time travel device?”

shit

Morgan turns to face Steve Rogers, adjusting the suit around her

“What are you doing here Rogers?”

“I asked first”

She chances a glance behind her, and the simulation needs a few more seconds to boot, she has to stall

Steve looks frozen between between going up and calling reinforcements, and making his way over to her, which works in her favour

She pulls at the last strap

“27 years ago,” she says, and there’s just a couple of seconds before all of this is fixed, “you killed my father.”

“I’m going back in time to save his life”

And before he can react, she presses down on the Pym Particles; closing her eyes as a blinding flash covers the room

Steve instinctively raises his arms against the light, and when he lowers them again, she’s gone.

Fin

hope you liked it!

italian translations:

tesoro- treasure borghese- commoner/ civilian/ middle-class person (its meant to be a joke not an insult) ti amo 3000- i love you 3000 mai- never guardati tesoro mio- look at you my treasure zio/zia- uncle/aunt

(all translations are taken off google translate!!)

french translations:

mon coeur- my sweetheart/ my heart j’adore mama- i love you mama je suis ici mama- i’m here mama je suis désolé, ça a pris si longtemps- im sorry it took so long

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