𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

Madison was sitting on her bed and reading the book: Looking for Alaska. It by far her favorite book in the world and she has read it over and over again.

She had just gotten to the part where the main character, Pudge, was about to meet his soon to be best friend, Colonel. The girl was about to flip the page when she heard a crash come from the living room.

Madison shot out of her bed and twisted her bracelet, making her suit appear. She raced into living room and saw her father laying on the floor in his suit. It was severely damaged and Tony was bleeding.

The girl then tapped her bracelet and made her suit retract; she kneeled on the floor next to her dad and helped him sit up. "What the hell happened?" she asked, concern thick in her voice.

"Steve happened," was all Tony said. Madison shook her head, "I thought you were going there as a friend."

Tony sat up more and leaned against the coffee table, "I did. But it turns out Steve was really protecting a murderer."

"Dad... What are you talking about?" Madison questioned, grabbing a screwdriver.

The girl stuck the tool into the neck of the Iron Man suit. and it opened up. Madison then helped her father sit on the couch. "Barnes. He... he killed your grandmother," Tony explained.

Madison looked at her father in disbelief. She didn't say a word as she sat back. Shock taking away her voice. Tony looked at his daughter, "I'm so sorry, Princess."

"I... This isn't what I wanted," was all Madison could say, "You need to be cleaned up."

Madison then stood up and walked away. A few seconds later she came back with medical supplies. She didn't say a word as she cleaned up her father, holding back her tears.

In that moment she knew that Steve was gone. There was no way he could ever come back; he was now a war criminal. And it broke the girl's heart to know that Steve would never have a permanent home again and that Madison may never see him again.

A few days had passed and Madison was trying to get back to her normal life. It was hard at first. But with Rhodey being alright and out of the hospital, it made things a lot easier.

Rhodey had been paralyzed from the waist down, and Madison apologized over and over again for it. Eventually Rhodey had a talk with her and explained that it wasn't her fault and that he didn't blame her.

However Madison still helped Rhodey with his physical therapy a lot and even built him knew legs. And right now Madison was smiling as Tony helped her uncle walk in them.

"It's just the first pass," Tony stated as he held onto Rhodey.

Madison's uncle nodded his head, "Yeah."

"Give me some feedback, anything you think of," Madison stated, "Shock absorption, lateral movement. Cup holder?"

"You man wanna think about some AC down in..." Rhodey started to say before he fell.

Madison ran over and crouched down next to him. "Here let me give you a hand," she tried.

Rhodey shook his head and waved her hand away, "No. Don't- Don't help me."

Madison then sat back as Rhodey turned himself and looked up at her and Tony.

With a small smile he said, "One hundred-thirty-eight. One hundred-thirty-eight combat missions. That's how many I've flown. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew them. Because the fight needed to be fought. It's the same with these Accords... I signed because it was the right thing to do."

"And yeah, this sucks. This is, uh... This is a bad beat. But it hasn't changed my mind. I don't think," Rhodey finished, with another smile.

Madison returned the smile and looked at her father who was holding out a hand. Rhodey then took the hand and was lifted up off of the ground. "You okay?" Madison asked.

"Oh, yeah," her uncle replied, holding onto the bars.

A knock then came from the glass door. The trio looked at the old man who had just knocked. He was holding a small package that came from FedEx.

"Are you Tony Stank," the man asked. Madison started to laugh as Rhodey put a hand on her father, "Yes, this is Tony Stank. You're in the right place. Thank you for that!"

Rhodey then turned around, "Never dropping that by the way. 'Table for one, Mr. Stank. Please by the bathroom.'"

Madison started to laugh even more as her father walked over and signed for the package. A minute went by and the package was opened.

Tony pulled out two letters. One for him and one for Madison. They both sat down and started to read them.

Before she even started, Madison knew it was from Steve. Her letter read:

Madison,
I am happy that you and your father are safe. I never wanted to hurt either of you. I also want to say that I am sorry for making you go through this; the last thing I wanted was to tear apart your family. Because family is important. And with family you have to trust them. I put my trust in you even though you were never fully on my side. However, you didn't let me down. I am so proud of you and I am glad I got to watch you grow up. It hurts me to leave you, but you know that I can't stay. I did some things that I shouldn't have, and I know that by now you know what they are. This may be our last goodbye. But, I hope that it won't be. You are one of the reasons I have fought; don't you ever forget that. So I promise you, just like I promised your father, if you need me. I'll be there.
-Steve

Madison smiled at the letter, happy that Steve didn't leave without saying a proper good by. She looked to her father who had a smirk on his face.

"You know what Maddi, I think that our family is really crazy," Tony said with a life.

The younger Stark gave a nod, "Yeah... It is. Maybe we just need a little normal in our lives."

"Oh," Tony said, cocking his head to the side, "You mean like going to a real school?"

"How did you know that?" Madison asked, shocked that her father found that out.

Tony gave a shrug, "Friday told me you were looking at schools. And I don't think it's a bad idea."

"Really?" Madison asked, excited that her father was considering it.

"Yeah. Of course there would be rules. But I enrolled you to start at Midtown High in two months," Tony said, "Just so we can go on a trip first. Because we need to spend some family time together."

Madison had a huge smile on her face as she jumped up and hugged her father. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to go to a real school. With kids her age. Madison was going to have something normal in her life.

It scared her and excited her at the same time, and she couldn't wait to take on high school.