LEGACY (T.Stark's Daughter)

CHAPTER TEN

Soul World.

Stevie Stark had fallen before, though, it was only out of a tree in the backyard or off of her chair at the dinner table. This fall was far longer and for the girl who was hurtling towards the bottom of it, it felt like an eternity. Her eyes were flickering open and closed as she drifted in and out of consciousness, only seeing flashes of light and flecks of snow. In spite of her lack of vision, her hearing had improved, meaning that Rocket's desperate screams and shouts were deafeningly loud.

She must have been falling for at least thirty minutes by now, she thought. But, the speed at which she was dragged from her dazed state was enough to wake her up completely. Her brain must have registered that she was merely a few feet from death and was trying to somehow alert her so that she could save herself. That was impossible; she had nothing to grip onto and nobody to pull her up.

Or so she thought.

A single string of sticky material latched onto her waist and another grappled onto her leg, yanking her upwards. Her head was thrown back suddenly, causing Stevie to experience major whiplash and sending a burning sensation down her spine.

Darkness.

And then light, all at once.

Was this it? Was this death that she was finally facing? Alertness and adrenaline pumping around her body – her eyes beadier and more focused than ever. She didn't know exactly how to feel about the emptiness that surrounded her. It was peaceful and relieving, but at the same time she felt trapped, and all that she could sense was what laid in the inches between her ears.

A figure wandered towards her in the distance. The only way that Stevie could identify them was by their dark, silhouetted outline, meaning that she had not the slightest clue as to who it could've been. Perhaps it was Rocket shaking her awake or Groot approaching where she laid.

"Who is it?" The distant voice was echoey and quiet, but she knew that voice anywhere. Her arm raised above her head to block the bright light from her eyes, allowing the shadow's face to be seen. "It's been quiet around here for a while, so I hope it's someone good... I swear to God, if it's Captain Spangles I might just snap myself out of existence again." They chuckled.

"D-dad?" Stevie could barely believe her eyes, "Dad?!"

Tony Stark took long strides towards Stevie, his brows furrowed heavily. "Morgan?"

"No." Stevie sighed, "no, I'm not Morgan."

"Pepper had... another child?"

"Yeah, that's- that's me." She waved her hand shyly, still overcome with the initial shock of finally meeting him.

"Pathetic." The shadowy Tony scoffed, "puny, pathetic weakling. How dare you call yourself my daughter."

Almost as if it had been a bad dream, Stevie sprung awake, spluttering and coughing as she arched her back painfully, whining with regret. She looked to her left to see Peter and Loki crouched beside her and Rocket and Groot to her right. "Pete?" She heaved, "oh my God, Peter!" She latched onto his arm as her breath began to tickle with every move that she made, her throat burning as hot tears rushed down her cheeks.

"Hey, it's ok." He cooed, "you're ok. Thank God you're ok."