A Second Chance (Fix-its/One-shots)

The Oath: 3. Home.

A creaking sound snapped them out of their touchy-feely moment. Both men turned to where they believed the sound came from. One of the underground base's pillars wasn't exactly standing straight. This whole place was about to come down.

"We can't stay here." Steve states as if it weren't obvious enough.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

He gasps as he sees a huge slab of concrete falling on Tony's head. With a soldier's instinct, he shoves his friend away. His back screams in agony, and he knew no more.

"Cap!" Stark called out. He had slowly come to realize what'd happened. He let the nanobots re-materialize his helmet, carried the unconscious body lying in front of him bridal style, and flew through the half- collapsed roof.

Landing smoothly on the cold pavement, he softly laid down the body and hastily shoved his index and thumb onto his pulse line.

A felt a somewhat weak but steady pulse beat thrumming under his metallic fingers. He breathed out in relief.

"Friday, read vitals." The computer obeyed, and on his HUD showed a far from short list of injuries the captain has sustained. The most recent, an incomplete spinal cord injury. But he already knew that. At least it wasn't anything modern medicine couldn't fix.

Tony was baffled to see that some of the injuries were older. Cap was literally the paragon of self-preservation. Regardless, he shoved the thought far back into his head and focused on getting him out of here. He decided to make a call.

"Parker? I got him." He began.

"What, is he okay?" Peter replied briskly.

"He's not dead, so that's a win." He could mentally hear the man on the other end of the line facepalm.

"Is he okay?" He sounded slightly more irritated this time.

"Yeah, he's fine. Don't get your tinsel in a tangle, he's all right. A little beat up, but otherwise fine."

"Bring him to the compound, there's no one here anyway."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure he's gonna need a doctor."

"Who's to say I don't have a medical degree?" Peter replied smugly, and hung up.

"What?" He realized he was speaking to the open air. He rolled his eyes and slung the Captain's left arm across his neck, and carried him. He grimaced and looked down at his friend's face.

"You know, you're a lot heavier than you look." He stated, expecting no response.

"So I've been told." Steve slurred his words, and only seemed half conscious.

"Oh, so you're awake. Thought you were KO'd."

"And I thought you were dead, yet here we are." Some ghost of a grin appeared on the super soldier's face, before the rest of his energy gave out and his face rested against the billionaire's chest, listening to the humming of the arc reactor.

The rest of the ride was rather uneventful.

Avengers Facility, Upstate New York.
1:06AM

By the time they flew in, Peter had already prepped a room for Steve and was standing anxiously by the floor-to-ceiling window. He leaned his head on the glass, looking outside.

A few minutes later, a small dot in the sky seemed to glow brighter, and brighter, till a familiar metal face appeared in the distance.

"Hey, look who decided to show up." His eyes brightened, still not used to seeing it all again. He focused his gaze on the super soldier in his arms.

"I had FRIDAY send you the report, what do you think?" Tony looked like he wanted to continue. "Doctor?"

Peter rolled his eyes so hard it hurt, and went on to clarify. "I am not a physician, I just have the degree."

"You sure you can handle it alone?" He said as he laid Steve down on the hospital bed.

"I'd tell you to join me, but there's someone waiting for you in the communal area." Peter winked. Tony narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Just go."

As Tony walked along the compound, he was hit with a sense of nostalgia. It was just the same. Sure, a few unfamiliar gadgets here and there, but pretty much the same. A few rooms later, he was there. He stopped dead in his tracks, freezing.

Sat in the conversation pit in the middle of the room, a teenager with her hair up in a ponytail stared at her phone's screen. He instantly recognized her, despite not having seen her in years.

"Morgan?" Her head whipped back, losing all blood in her face.

"Oh my god, it really is you." She whispered and simply gawked at him as he made his way down the pit. "I... How?"

"It's... Complicated." He shrugged, not really having the energy to explain it all again. All of a sudden he was tackled in a bone-crushing hug. He really was getting a lot of hugs today.

Tony hid his head in his daughter's hair. He could feel a puddle of wetness on his shoulder, but he didn't much care.

"Glad to see you're still a fan of coconut." He remarked, taking a whiff of her hair.

Pulling back, Tony wiped his thumbs across Morgan's eyes, drying those tear stained, gorgeous chocolate orbs.
He put his hand on the back of her head, and rested it against his chest. He planted a kiss on the top of her head, and patted his free hand against her back.

The pair spent an hour catching up, with Tony being updated on what has happened in the last decade. He picked up an advanced looking tablet, it immediately lit up.

2:31 AM
April 2nd 2033

He still couldn't wrap his head around it, his brain couldn't process the information. He could spend a day locked up in his lab, and he still wouldn't be able to get accustomed to the world. 'Let's call it a day.' He thinks.

Tony looks over at his daughter, her black waves covering half her face. She'd dozed off. Tony picks up a pillow and puts it under her head. He leans over and softly pecks her forehead.

"Sleep tight, Moguna. I love you tons."
He looks at her lovingly, and she awakes just long enough to utter four words.

"I love you three thousand."

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