When Morgan awoke from her impromptu nap at her desk, she certainly didn’t expect to open her eyes and find herself curled up in a tent. It wasn’t just any tent, though, was it? Oh no. It was a near exact replica of the one she had as a kid, only it was far more advanced. This tent had nearly everything she’d wanted growing up- complete with a droid that was losing its shit when it saw her.
It took awhile for her to reel in her thoughts amongst the incessant beeping, but once she managed to convince the droid in binary that she was who she said she was, it made the process of trying to figure out where the hell she was a lot easier.
She wished that waking up on an island of all places was the biggest shock of her day, but once she took to the network? There was an even bigger surprise waiting for her. This one wasn’t as nostalgic. This one made her feel like she wanted to throw up or cry or blow something up...maybe not in that order.
It had to be a dream right? That was the only explanation. Morgan Happy Stark wasn’t sitting in a tent she was far too big for now waiting for her father to show up. Nope. She was still asleep in her actual lab.
Tony had a long day. First his wife turned into a literal teenager, then his son turned into a seven year old, and now his daughter was a grown woman. At least Morgan knew him? It was the one thing Tony clung to as he called out for his daughter. “Morgan, sweetheart?”
“Shit,” she said rather loudly. It had been over a decade since she’d heard that voice, but she would know it anywhere. Curbing all of those previous impulses, Morgan steeled herself after a persistent nudge from the droid and pulled back the flap to exit the tent.
For a moment she could only stare at him. This should have been impossible, but yet here they were. Shaking her head in an attempt to break free from the shock, she managed to smile. No matter what else she was feeling? Deep down, Morgan was incredibly overjoyed and she didn’t want to waste whatever time she had. “About time you showed up.”
Tony grinned. “You know me, tinkering about, losing track of time…” Despite his light tone, his eyes shone with unshed tears. His daughter was beautiful. She was perfect at ten and perfect now. Still, it wasn’t lost on him that she hadn’t seen him in years in her time. What if he wasn’t what she remembered? Expected? Needed? “I’m sorry,” he blurted, “You are beautiful. So grown up…” It was hard on him, but he knew it was ten times harder on her. He’d lost one part of her life and gained another.
That grin, the little bit of banter, everything about this was exactly how she’d remembered him. Sure, he looked a bit younger but he was still Tony. Trying incredibly hard to not let her emotions get the better of her, especially after seeing the tell-tale signs of tears in his eyes coupled with his words, Morgan swore under her breath and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Yeah? Well, I have really good genetics.”
Squinting, still not entirely convinced this wasn’t a dream, she threw caution to the wind and reached to gently place her hand near his Arc Reactor. It was then she finally let go of an emotional laugh. “You’re really here.”
He chuckled at her quip about genetics before reaching up to hold the hand that reached for his Arc Reactor. “It is me, I promise.” He leaned over to press a kiss against her forehead, hoping she accepted it.
That kiss to her forehead did her in. Morgan wasn’t overly affectionate and usually kept all of those pesky feelings under lock and key, but she had years of built up emotions surrounding her father and fighting all of that was a losing battle.
Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tightly. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Tony ran a hand through Morgan’s hair as he held her close. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispered. “I love you so much.” It was true. She could have shown up as a seventy year old and he’d still adore his little girl. “You are here now and we are going to make up for lost time. Movies, food, lab time, you name it.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Morgan said pointedly. Despite everything, she needed him to know that she didn’t blame him. Never once in her life had she resented Tony for doing what he needed to do. Without him, no one would have gotten the life they deserved. “I love you too, Daddy.” Wiping defiantly at her teary eyes, she held on for several moments longer before pulling back to look at him again. “Speaking of lab time...how is this here,” she asked, reaching out to touch the material of the tent.
He felt relieved that she didn’t seem to hate him. It was his worst fear. He couldn’t bear it if Pepper or Morgan hated him for what he did. “Uh, well, until a few hours ago? You were ten.” He shrugged. “This island is crazy, you know? It is full of magic and science that has gone berserk.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Speaking of…” He had to rip everything off like a band-aid. “Your mother is currently sixteen.”
“Magic,” she asked with an arch of her eyebrow. Morgan wanted to counter that magic wasn’t real, but she couldn’t really contest it now, could she? There wasn’t any other logical explanation for any of this. “Oof. Ten.” She couldn’t help but feel a slight bit of jealousy directed toward her younger self. The Morgan that was usually here got to grow up with both of her parents. “I hope I keep you on your toes, I’d be hella disappointed in me if I didn’t.”
“What,” she stated more than asked when he mentioned Pepper’s age- her eyebrow arching impossibly higher. “Sixteen!? You’re alive. I’m older than my mother, and we’re all stuck on a ‘magic’ island? You do realize how fucking crazy this all sounds, right? Also? Not swaying me from my this is all a dream theory.”
He tilted his head back and laughed. She sounded so much like Pepper then! “I do know,” he admitted, “But, hey, it gives us a second chance, hm?” He touched her cheek gently. “I might as well dump everything on you now. Peter is seven as of today and May lives with us so this bungalow is crazier than usual.”
Morgan couldn’t help but smile when he laughed. She thought she would never hear that again, and decided right then that she would stop trying to over analyze every little thing and just try to enjoy whatever time she was afforded here. Smiling at the touch to her cheek, she couldn’t help but light up a bit at the mention of Peter. “Peter?" May she knew about having talked to her on the Network, but she hadn't even thought to ask about Peter. “How is that...I just saw them back home?” Shaking her head, she continued to smile. “Nevermind. Magic stuff. Oh god. I don’t think I can handle a tiny Peter Parker. Whoever brought us here really is trying to turn me soft, huh?”
“Also? For the record? I can handle the crazy.” The emotional overflow was another story, but she would manage.
“Of course you can. Your genetics gave you no choice.” He winked playfully. “Except at least this time it isn’t me fucking everything up,” he joked. “If anything, I want to give whoever runs this place a medal for bringing me my family.” He may have been flippant, but his words were sincere. He loved his family, no matter how messed up their ages were just then.
“Fucking things up is also in the genes,” she replied with a smirk. Then her expression faded into something more sincere, despite her jealousies, she was incredibly happy to know that in this place they were all together. Tony deserved to have his family as much as they all deserved to have him. “I’m glad you get to have that here.”
Guilt ate at Tony, but he hid it from Morgan. His choices belonged to him and he needed to own them. “I love you so much, sweetheart. Do you want me to show you around? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
There was another thing she never thought she’d hear again, and it caused her to go in for another hug. Two in one day? She was on a roll. “I love you 3000,” she said quietly before composing herself and pulling back. “I definitely want the tour and coffee? You do have coffee on magic island, right?”
Tony’s face lit up when she mentioned coffee. “I own a coffee shop! It is Starkbucks.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Get it, get it?”
“Starkbucks?” Morgan couldn’t help the laugh that expelled from her as she watched that wiggle of his eyebrows. “God, you’re such a dork. Never change.” At that moment, she wasn’t jealous at all. Instead, she was happy that some version of herself got to live a life here with him, that permitted such things as opening a cheesily punned coffee shop.
“Wait until you see it,” he told her. “Free everything for you, of course.” He gestured to the kitchen. “Unless you want a boring old coffee for now.”
“You’re going to learn quickly that I never want anything boring,” she replied with a scrunch of her nose at the thought of regular kitchen coffee when a much better option was available.
“Truly my girl,” Tony replied, pride evident in his voice. “So you are ready to blow this place with me?”
That pride in his voice produced a genuine smile. “Always have been,” nudging his shoulder with her own, she glanced at the nosy droid with a wink then turned back to Tony and produced a purple glove. “Only if we do it properly. Wanna fly with me?”
Giddiness absolutely showed all over Tony’s face. “Oh my god, yes. Your mother would kill us if she was here. Well, and over sixteen.” He still wasn’t over that. “I am so proud of you, sweetheart.”
That was all Morgan ever wanted, wasn’t it? The driving force behind every choice she made? Secretly hoping that she made both Tony and Pepper proud. “Yeah,” she asked- the usual sarcastic tone she used shifting into something softer. “I’m on the right track then.”
Her ridiculous smile tugged into a smirk as she steered the conversation back to her mother. “Don’t I know it! She doesn’t know about my suit back home yet and I’m not looking forward to that conversation.” She also wasn’t going to comment on the ‘sixteen’ thing. Too much awkward to unpack there. “Alright, let's go see if you can keep up.”