delicate | tony stark's daughter (II) ✓

EIGHTEEN

chapter eighteen;
epilogue

THE COMPOUND WAS QUIET. The hallways that was once filled with Natasha's clicking heels were dead silent. Steve's constant argument with Tony in the meeting room, Wanda and Vision's chatter through out the room, gone. It wasn't how it has always been, and Lucy felt more alone than she has ever been. It doesn't feel like home anymore.

It feels cold, and hollow. Sure, Rhodey pretty much lives there at that point. Especially now that he is doing a therapy to make sure he can walk again properly, with the help of Tony and her. But, she couldn't help but miss the way it used to be.

Lucy sat on the counter, eating her chips, as she watched Tony guiding Rhodey through the path. Now that Natasha's gone, she was able to bring chips other than veggie chips into the compound. "It's just the first pass" Tony said.

"Yeah"

"Give us some feedback, anything you can think of" Lucy added, as she put a chip in her mouth. "Shock absorption, lateral movement.." she said.

"Cup holder?" Tony said, glancing his way at her. Lucy nodded. Rhodey scoffed.

"You might wanna think about some AC down in-" Rhodey stopped mid sentence as he fell on his face. Tony luckily caught him and Lucy rushed down to his down.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Tony sighed.

"Let's go. I'll give you a hand" he said. Rhodey shook his head.

"No, don't help me" he said. Lucy turned to Tony who gave her a look. Rhodey panted and sat down slowly. Lucy sighed and sat in front of him. Rhodey turned to Tony and chuckled. His eyes caught Lucy's puffy eyes and he furrowed his eyebrows. "Have you been crying, Luce?" he asked.

Lucy's head shot up and shook her head vigorously. "What? No! Why would I cry?" she snorted. "That's absolutely.. ridiculous" she said. Rhodey turned to Tony who shook his head.

"I know how much Steve means to you" Rhodey said.

"No" Lucy said.

"Lucy stop being so hard, your uncle's trying to give you some life advice" Tony said. Rhodey scoffed and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"No, but seriously. He means a lot to all of us, he was our captain" Rhodey continued. Lucy nodded. "But the fight needed to be fought. The same as these accords. It had to be done" he added. "I know nothing will ever be the same after this, but your dad and I will always be here for you" he said. "Pepper, Happy, Vis, we're all here" he said.

Lucy looked up to him and nodded. Maybe he's right. She thought she needed Steve; a validation of a family. But, she still has her family right in front of her. Tony, Pepper, Rhodey. Maybe she doesn't need Steve after all. She may have lost a best friend that day, but at the end of the day Tony was still there, along with the rest of her family. And that is all she needed.

Lucy smiled and pulled the two into a hug. "We'll always got your back, kid" Tony said. Lucy nodded.

"I know" she replied. Their hug was interrupted with a knock on the window. An old man holding two FedEx packages stood outside of it.

"Are you Lucielle Stank?" he asked. Rhodey and Tony bursted out into laughter, as Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Yes. This is Lucielle Stank right here" Tony said.

"And Thomas Stork?" he said as Lucy took the packages from him. Laughter escaped her lips as she closed the door back. Rhodey was already teasing him about it. Lucy handed Tony his package.

"Here you go, Thomas Stork" she said, walking away.

"Lunch in thirty, young lady!" he yelled. The brunette gave an 'okay' as she walked up the stairs. She turned the envelope around to see the sender. Her heart sank and her throat felt dry. She quickly grabbed the handle of the door to her room and pull it open. She sat on her bed and ripped the envelope open. The letter was handwritten by Steve himself.

Lucy,

I don't know how to start this, because I do know that I did hurt you the most. And I'm sorry.
I let my emotions get the best of me, and although I know that is not the best excuse, I do still hope you understand. I didn't mean any of the words I say, it all just slipped out. You're my family, and I'm sorry for all of the things I said.
I'm glad you're at the compound with Tony and the rest. Knowing you, you will most likely blame yourself for all of the things happening. Don't. None of the things that happened was your doing.
Wanda is fine. So is Clint, Natasha and the rest of us.
I'm sorry thing have to get this messy, kid.
I hope we all can meet again, and in different circumstances, of course.
If you need me, you know where to find me. I'll have your back. Always.

P.S. Do me a favor and give that boy from Queens a chance, will you? I think he really likes you.

-Steve

42°52'21.0"N 74°34'08.6"E

A/N
I'm updating two chapters in a row to try and make up for my absence, but ahhh it's done!!! Thank you so much to all of you who has read this far! From Silver Spade to this, I thank all of you who has stick around to read this book, I appreciate it a lot :') I actually started the third book already and it will be set on Far From Home, but idk if you guys are still interested in reading about Lucy lmfao so let me know! Anyways, thank you so much for coming this far, Lucy appreciates it :D

Thank you soo much for reading and I hope you like this series :)

Let me know if you'd still read another one lol

-H