Alexandra

With Tony finally awake, Alexandra figured she should probably go and say hello—thank him for saving the universe and all that.

She hadn't exactly been taking care of herself for the last few weeks, so Alexandra finally forced herself into the shower. She washed her hair and scrubbed herself clean of the grief she had been stewing in for nearly a month. She figured Tony and Peter and the rest of his family would probably need some time alone, so Alexandra took her time, and when she finally hopped out, the mirror was fogged up with steam.

Alexandra wiped it away and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked cleaner, that was for sure, but she wasn't sure she felt any better. Maybe just a little bit. It was good news that Tony was awake, and she hoped her mood would reflect that. She had already been wallowing for a month. She didn't want to show up in Tony's hospital room with any—negative vibes. Only good vibes for him, for Peter.

She quickly got dressed, throwing on a clean pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt along with her converse shoes (her Pa had brought some things for her when he had traveled to Wakanda from New York and she sometimes wondered if he'd had to dig through old storage to find it). Alexandra didn't bother drying her hair and instead combed it back, tucking it behind her ears, before—for the first time in several weeks—leaving her room and meeting her father in the living space.

He glanced up from his phone as she entered, his expression brightening. "Hey, are you ready?" He asked, his voice soft and gentle. She nodded. "May says everybody else has already been to see him, so we won't be overwhelming him or anything like that."

"Is Peter still there?" Alexandra asked.

"Yeah, he should be. May was saying Mr. Stark wasn't too keen on letting him out of his sight."

Alexandra smiled softly. Of course he wasn't.

***

Most hospitals were these white, pristine, sterile places that always made Alexandra feel like she should be whispering, sort of like being in church. Wakandan hospitals didn't feel like that, though. They were very high tech—it felt more like being at the Avengers compound than it did a hospital.

Alexandra realized on their walk to the hospital just how beautiful Wakanda really was. She had sort of looked around when they arrived last month—no, not last month, five years ago—to try and save Vision, but to be fair there had been a lot going on, so she hadn't actually been able to get a good look at the city's beauty. Then, afterwards, she hadn't given herself to look around because she had been locked away in a room mourning her father.

So yeah. She missed out a bit.

While Alexandra didn't have clue where they were going, her Pa hadn't been locking himself away so he led the way through the hospital. He seemed to know right where to go, and Alexandra suddenly found herself wondering how many times he had actually been to visit Tony in the hospital and check on things. Were he and Tony close? She realized she actually didn't know anything about her Pa's life anymore, things were so different.

"Are you and Mr. Stark close?" She suddenly asked as they turned a corner into the hallway that led to the main waiting area. "Like—during the—when I wasn't—" Alexandra hesitated. "Did you get close to the Avengers?"

Her Pa glanced over at her and smiled, shaking his head. "No, not me," He said. "Your father—he did, though. I—well, we didn't... talk much, after everything. But I knew he and Mr. Stark—Tony—became friends. Not that they weren't already, what with the whole—secretly working for Stark Industries..." He sighed, shaking his head.

Alexandra hummed absentmindedly. It was still strange to think that her father had become close with the other Avengers in the time that she wasn't around. She supposed it made sense that he and Tony became closer afterwards, though, they lost something in common.

They entered the waiting area, and Alexandra was immediately overwhelmed by the presence of superheroes. Like, lots of superheroes. Some of them she recognized immediately (like Natasha Romanoff, who looked up as soon as Alexandra and her Pa arrived and began to walk towards them), but others she only vaguely knew of. She figured they had been at the battle at Avengers Compound and had heard about Tony waking up.

Natasha was suddenly in front of her, a concerned expression on her face. "Alexandra," She said. "It's good to see you."

Alexandra blinked. Natasha had been kind to her when they met, and had seemingly taken on a responsibility for her as well. Alexandra remembered being with Natasha when she had turned to dust. It hadn't been very long for Alexandra, but it had been five whole years for Natasha. Plus a month.

"You too," She said.

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, um—" Alexandra shrugged, picking at the hem of her t-shirt. "You know. Better. I guess."

Natasha had also been the one to deliver the news that her father was dead. Apparently, they had been friends—had grown to be friends in the five years missing from Alexandra's life. Yet another strange thing to come from all of this.

"Good, that's—I'm glad," Natasha said.

Desperate to change the subject, Alexandra cleared her throat. "Have you spoken to Mr. Stark?" She asked.

Natasha hummed, folding her arms over her chest. "Yeah, briefly," She said. "Just to say hi, tell him it's good to see him awake. I didn't want to take up too much of his time." She glanced at Alexandra. "You going to say hi?"

"Yeah, in a second," Alexandra said.

"Alexandra Wallace!"

She snapped her head up to see Shuri smiling widely and moving quickly across the room towards her. Alexandra couldn't help but grin a bit, actually pleased to see the other girl. They had gotten along well when they met—five years ago—and neither had had the chance to say hello to one another since everything. Nothing other than a few briefly exchanged words before running through a magic portal into battle, anyway.

"Hi, Shuri—" Shuri wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her close. Alexandra stood, shocked for a moment, before returning the hug.

Ever since she had absolutely tackled Peter in a hug earlier, Alexandra had realized just how much she missed hugs. She had been withdrawing from everyone, refusing to see or speak to anyone who wasn't May, and in her effort she hadn't been properly hugged in weeks. Maybe she felt like she hadn't needed it, hadn't deserved it, hadn't wanted it from anyone who wasn't her dad. But man, did it feel good to hug her friends again.

The two girls held on to one another for a moment longer before pulling away. Shuri was smiling brightly, but her eyes were filled with concern (just like Natasha's had been). "How are you?" She asked, tilting her head. "I wanted to come and say hello to you earlier, but my brother suggested I give you a bit of space and usually he isn't right, but we know what it's like to lose—" Shuri stopped, shaking her head. "Anyway. Are you feeling okay?"

Alexandra's throat felt tight with emotion. She cleared it, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, I'm—I'm doing okay," She said. "Just, uh, yeah. Fine. Mostly."

Shuri nodded understandingly and then smiled again. "I'm glad to hear it. Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly. "I met Peter Parker—you were right, he is a dork, but in a lovable way."

Alexandra snorted. "Yeah, that's Pete alright."

"He kept calling me 'your highness' and I finally had to whack him upside the head to get him to call me Shuri," She went on. "Anyway—I want to show you a few things I've started to work on when you have some time. Things have been so crazy around here, but I've had a bit of extra time to start on new projects—"

It meant a lot that Shuri was treating Alexandra normally, especially since she had been behaving so abnormally for the last month (her Pa would tell her there was nothing abnormal about grief, but Alexandra still couldn't help but feel like she wasn't handling it in a normal way—pushing everyone away instead of holding them close). She smiled at her friend, nodding. "That sounds great, Shuri. Can't wait."

"I won't keep you any longer," Shuri said. "I'm sure you want to say hello to Stark—"

"Allie!" Morgan Stark's voice suddenly rang out. Alexandra glanced over at the little girl, whom she had only met once, very briefly a month before when they brought Tony to Wakanda. She was looking right at her. "Petey says he can hear you out here! Daddy wants you to come say hi!"

Right. Super hearing.

Alexandra blushed deeply as Shuri let out a snicker. Morgan came bounding over and grabbed ahold of her hand, tugging her towards the hospital room. Alexandra glanced over at her father, who was shooing her towards the room as well.

"Daddy told me all about you," Morgan said as they made their way from the waiting area towards Tony's hospital room. "And Petey! He told me you're Spider-Woman, too!"

"He did?" Alexandra asked.

"Uh huh!" Morgan nodded, not loosing her grip on Alexandra's hand. "Uncle Colin told me about you, too!"

Alexandra froze, halting Morgan in her steps. She glanced down at the little girl. "Uncle Colin?" She asked, her voice feeling very small.

Morgan tilted her head. "Uh huh," She repeated. "I don't remember him too much, 'cause he got busy when I was little and I didn't see him a lot. Daddy told me he was busy with work, but he still sent me birthday cards and Christmas cards every year." She informed happily. Then, she turned to Alexandra, her eyes wide as she noticed the tears gathering. "You're sad."

Alexandra cleared her throat quickly, shaking her head. "No, no, I'm—" She cleared her throat again, but it didn't help. "Just, it's nice to hear about him." Knowing that he hadn't totally turned away from life when Alexandra had been dusted made her feel just the slightest bit better.

Morgan looked at her almost knowingly. "I'm sorry about Uncle Colin—about your daddy." She wrapped her arms around Alexandra (since she was little, she was really only hugging Alexandra's waist). Alexandra took a deep breath and hugged her back.

"Thanks, Morgan," She said.

"I'm glad you're back, like Petey," Morgan added.

"Me too."

Morgan smiled brightly, grabbing Alexandra's hand again. She pushed the door to Tony's room open and tugged her inside, grinning at the people with Tony—Peter, Pepper, and Colonel Rhodes. "Found her, Petey!" Morgan announced proudly.

Peter's head snapped in their direction, and Alexandra couldn't help but smile lightly at the way his eyes seemed to light up upon seeing her. "You sure did, Mo," Peter said as the little girl dropped Alexandra's hand and ran to Pepper, who scooped her up at once.

"Hey, kiddo," Tony said, tilting his head at Alexandra.

"Hey," Alexandra said. "How are you feeling, Mr. Stark?"

"Uh, good—all things considered," He said, shrugging.

"Are you sure?" Colonel Rhodes asked, looking dubious. "You always lie about that sort of stuff."

Tony raised his left hand—the only hand he had left, Alexandra realized with a shiver—to his chest and gaped in mocked offense. "Who? Me? I don't do that," He insisted. "Name one time I've ever—"

"After you got back from Afghanistan," the Colonel immediately supplied.

"When you were dying from palladium poisoning," Pepper added.

"After New York," Rhodes went on. "When you got back from space and said, and I quote, 'I'm fine,' and then promptly passed the fu—heck out." He cleared his throat, amending a swear as he realized Morgan was still in the room.

Morgan giggled all the same. She must have realized what her Uncle Rhodey was about to say.

Tony scoffed, leaning back against his pillow. "I said name one." Peter snorted. "Oh, laugh it up, Underoos, you're no better than me."

"Yes, yes, you're both self-sacrificing idiots," Colonel Rhodes said, sighing. "Honestly, I don't know why I put up with you—either of you. It's bad for my health."

Pepper laughed, bouncing Morgan up and down on her lap. "Second that."

"Third!" Morgan yelled.

"You don't even know what we're talking about, Little Miss!" Tony shook his head fondly.

"Yes I do!" Morgan said.

Alexandra watched the scene unfold before her and couldn't help but gape at the pure domesticity of it all. She would have argued that Tony was a dad before all of this, with how parental he acted with Peter, but Morgan had truly brought out the Dad-ness of him. She watched as Tony reached out and affectionately ruffled Peter's hair as Peter let out a laugh, leaning into the touch.

She didn't want to say she was jealous, but...

But.

She would never have that again. At least not with her Dad. Her Papa, sure—though maybe even that wouldn't be the same. Everything was different now. She wasn't even sure if she was still mad at her Pa. It wasn't like her Dad had been home very often anyway; it was usually just she and her Papa—but that was different, because when her Dad was with them, he was with them one hundred percent. Even if it was only on the weekends.

"Wow, a guy saves the universe and this is the thanks he gets?" Tony shook his head.

"Uh huh, uh huh," Rhodes said, sounding fond. "You're gonna be pulling that card for a while, aren't you?"

"You know me too well, honeybear."

"He used the New York missile card for a while," Pepper reminded.

"Babe, you're killing me here, you're supposed to be on my side," Tony whined. "Wasn't that a condition? Like in the vows?"

Pepper raised an eyebrow at him as Morgan settled against her chest, resting her head on her mom's shoulder. "Right, right, sure," She said, glancing down at Morgan. "Someone seems tired. Is it time for a nap, Morgan?"

"Nooooooo," Morgan whined, and it made Alexandra giggle at how similar she and Tony sounded.

"Naps are awesome, Morgan," Peter said. "I love naps."

Morgan peaked an eye open at him. "You do?"

"Sure I do." Peter nodded. "I can fall asleep anywhere."

Morgan hummed, closing her eyes again as she leaned heavily on her mom. Pepper smiled softly. "She's about to be out," She said, glancing at Tony. "I'm gonna go put her down for a little while. You gonna be okay?"

Tony nodded. "Oh yeah, I've got plenty of company," He said.

"I'm gonna go give the others an update," Rhodes decided, patting Tony on the shoulder. "Happy said he and May are probably gonna eat and then come by for a little while later."

"Can't wait."

Pepper, Rhodes, and Morgan left the hospital room, leaving just Tony and the two spider-kids. Tony smiled at Peter and then looked over at Alexandra. "Come on, Ms Wallace, sit down." He offered, and Alexandra suddenly realized she hadn't moved since she entered the room.

"Right, right—" She grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it up beside Peter's (though Peter had ditched the chair and was sitting on the edge of Tony's hospital bed). "So, you're—feeling good?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," Tony said, trying to sound reassuring. "How are you doing, huh? Pete here told me you've been..." He trailed off, his eyes softening. "Well, I just wanna make sure you're doing okay."

She suddenly recalled a moment during the battle when Tony had found her. She had said something about how her parents were going to flip out when they found out where she was—Tony's demeanor had shifted then. When she asked what was wrong—

"Ask me later."

Right. Now she knew what that was all about.

Alexandra glanced sideways at Peter, who was avoiding her gaze, instead rather focused on Tony's left hand, which he was holding in his own. She looked back at Tony and shrugged, inhaling deeply. "Well, you know—I'm doing—not, uh, not great. Better though, I guess. You being not dead helps." She answered truthfully.

"Glad to be of service," Tony said. "I'm really sorry about your dad, Alex."

Alexandra smiled half-heartedly. "Thanks. I—uh—I'm sorry, too," She added. "You guys were friends, right?"

"Yeah—yeah, we—he was—yeah." Tony stumbled over his words.

Alexandra cleared her throat. "So, uh—what did we miss?" She asked.

Tony also cleared his throat. "Not a whole lot, really," He said. "Oh—well, that Star Wars movie came out—"

Peter's head suddenly snapped up. "Oh man, what?!" He cried. "Was it any good, Mr. Stark? Did they reveal who Rey's parents actually are, or was Kylo Ren not actually lying? Wait, no, don't tell me—I'll watch it with Ned—"

"Never change, Pete," Tony said fondly.

"Excuse me? You'll watch it with Ned and me," Alexandra corrected.

"Duh, Allie," Peter said, sighing like it went unsaid that they would be watching it together. "Also, Mr. Stark, what do you mean we didn't miss much? You and Pepper got married!" He pointed at the wedding band on his hand. "Also, there's the whole—you have a kid thing!"

Tony clicked his tongue once. "Oh, yeah, okay—that's—those are both pretty big," He admitted.

"Pepper promised she'd show me the pictures," Peter continued.

"I can't believe we missed Tony Stark's wedding." Alexandra shook her head. "Biggest party of the year and we were dust for it—"

Tony scoffed. "Biggest party of the year my ass," He said. "It was a small ceremony, actually. Just, uh, close friends and family." He glanced at the pair of them. "I am sorry you missed it, though. Wasn't the same without you two."

Peter ducked his head and Alexandra smiled, for real this time. She was upset they had missed the wedding, and the fact that they'd had a daughter, but it was almost alright—Tony being alive right now made that stuff seem small.

"Aw, you're such a dad now," Alexandra said. "Being all—dad-like—missing us and stuff—"

"Of course I missed you," Tony said, seriously. "And what do you mean now? I was always like a dad to you two idiots—"

"More like weird uncle—" Alexandra cut in. She didn't miss the way Peter's cheeks went red at Tony's easy declaration of being a father-figure to him.

Tony glared at her. "I take offense to that. Can you believe this, Pete?"

"You're not a weird uncle to me, Mr. Stark," Peter promised him. Alexandra snorted and leaned forward, laying her head in Peter's lap, but turning her neck so she could still see Tony.

He smiled at the pair of them. "My two favorite young adults," He said fondly.

"My favorite old man," Alexandra returned, slightly teasing but equally as fond.

Peter snorted, running his free hand through her hair. She suddenly felt very tired. But not in the way she had been tired all month—not tired from the weight of guilt and grief crushing her down. Tired in a good, normal way. Maybe tonight she'd finally be able to sleep without dreaming about her father's death.

"Y'know what, I know someone you'd get along with, Alex," Tony said. "Maybe I'll fly him to New York sometime, introduce you—actually no, bad idea. All three of you would gang up on me."

"Oh please, like Pepper, Rhodey, May and Happy don't do that already," Peter said with a snicker.

"Why did I bring you menaces back again—?"

"'Cause you love us," Alexandra answered easily.

Tony's eyes softened with fondness. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

The weight on Alexandra's chest felt lighter than it had all month.

***

Tony I love you. You and your stupid kids. Your dumb spider-kids.

In case you cannot tell, I am a fan of the Irondad trope. Forever. And Always.