A Second Chance

The moment Steve sees Tony’s car pulling up to the compound, his heart flutters and his stomach flips, the butterflies kicking in hard. He’s excited to see his daughter again, but he knows there’s more brewing inside of him. Seeing Tony again brings back those strong feelings. They never really left, and now that Tony is back in his life and they’re talking again, it seems those feelings have gotten stronger.

The car stops near the front entrance and Steve waves when he spots Morgan in the backseat. She smiles and waves back, the sight of her making him feel all giddy again. Tony gets out first, dressed casual in a pair of worn out jeans and a basic tee shirt, yet somehow, he looks just as handsome as ever.

“Hey,” Tony greets, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Sorry we’re late. Someone needed to give Gerald a million kisses.”

Steve chuckles. “That’s okay,” he says, moving toward the car and reaching out for the handle to let Morgan out. The minute he has the door open, she squeals, her little body buzzing with both excitement and impatience.

“Mama!”

“Hi, sweetheart. Let me get you out, okay?”

Steve unbuckles her and helps her out of the car. He picks her up, his heart fluttering when she wraps her arms around his neck and holds him. He smiles and kisses her head.

“You ready to play? I have your room all set up.”

Morgan gasps and she pulls away to look at Steve’s face, her eyes wide with excitement. “It’s done!”

Steve chuckles and nods his head. “It is. Do you want to see it?”

“Yes!” Morgan exclaims, wiggling out of Steve’s arms. She takes his hand. “Come on, Mama! Daddy, hurry up!”

Steve smiles and looks over at Tony, finding a smile on his face. “Guess we’re touring her room.”

“Lead the way, Cap.” Tony gestures toward the entrance.

They make small talk as they make their way up to the living quarters. Tony mostly talks about his retirement and all the animals he swears Morgan convinced him to get. Steve doesn’t have much to talk about other than his time with Sam and the occasional message he gets from Natasha.

“So everyone’s good?” Tony asks, obviously referring to the rogue ones.

“I guess.” Steve shrugs and he opens the door to his apartment. “Sam and I keep a low profile and luckily no one has shown up here. Nat is off doing her own thing but she keeps in touch. I don’t hear much from Wanda and Vision. Clint’s at least back with his family.”

“That’s good.” Tony nods and he shuts the door behind them. “And what about Bar—”

“Let’s go!” Morgan yanks Steve forward. “No more boring grown up stuff.”

Steve throws his head back and laughs. “Okay, okay. Lead the way, sweetheart.”

Morgan is over the moon with excitement when she steps inside her room. She rushes over to the bed and throws herself on it, creating wrinkles in the purple fabric. She glances up, her eyes roaming over the plastic stars placed on the ceiling. Something colorful on the wall across from her catches her eye and she sits up.

“Mama, what is that place?” she points.

Steve turns around and Tony does the same. Tony releases a low whistle and steps toward the wall, gently running his hand over the painted trees. “You paint this, Cap?”

“Yeah.” Steve nods, coming closer. “I used to think Brooklyn had beautiful sunsets. But then I ended up in Wakanda and discovered how breathtaking they are over there.”

“What’s Wa—Wak—what is it?” Morgan asks, growing slightly frustrated with herself when she can’t get the word right.

“Wakanda,” Steve says and he beckons her over. He scoops her up into his arms. “It’s where you were born.”

“Really! It’s pretty there,” Morgan says, running her hand over the sun and the clouds Steve had painted.

“You know what else? I was in a palace. I was friends with the king of Wakanda.”

Morgan gasps and whips her head in Steve’s direction. “Like the kings in my stories!”

Steve chuckles. “That’s right.”

“Can I go?”

“Maybe one day.”

Tony clears his throat and Steve looks over at him, meeting his eyes and getting the message loud and clear: No.

“You explore your room, okay? I’m going to talk to Daddy,” Steve says and he sets Morgan down. “Auntie Nat helped me pick out some toys but we can get you more.”

“Can I bring Gerald?”

“Maybe we can get a dog.”

Morgan nods her head enthusiastically. “I want a dog!”

“You want lot of things. Aren’t you spoiled enough?” Tony teases. Then he turns to Steve and they share a look. “Living room?”

Steve nods his head and they leave Morgan to look around her new bedroom. Tony sits down on the couch and Steve takes the armchair. For a moment, neither one says a word. Steve can’t remember it ever being this difficult to talk to each other. Even during the Accords they still tried to communicate. Clearly, not well. Steve wishes he would have done things differently back then. Maybe life would be different now.

“She seems happy here,” Steve says, finally breaking the silence.

Tony nods. “She does. She talks about you a lot.”

A smile forms over Steve’s lips. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. Listen, Steve…I’m trying to figure out what to do here. It seems like every time it’s just us—”

“I know. I feel it too, Tony. We never used to be like this. I used to be able to talk to you about anything. Now we can’t even talk about our daughter.”

Tony sighs. “I’m trying to make this work out for everyone, but especially her. I know why you left her with me. I get that. Pepper worries Ross will find you or you’ll leave again and Morgan will be devastated.”

“I’m not going to leave her again,” Steve says sternly. “I wish I never had to leave in the first place, but you know why I had no choice. But I’m here now and I want to be there for her.”

“I know. I’m going to figure out a way to clear your name. I don’t know how exactly but I think we should start there. I’d hate for you to get arrested.”

“And what about you? You’re helping me. I don’t want her to lose both of us.”

“She won’t. I don’t want her to get hurt. You know the first time I met her I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea what I was doing. A part of me was angry you because when I envisioned us having a kid we were supposed to be together.”

“You thought about having kids?” Steve asks.

Tony shrugs. “Sometimes. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, though. Luckily, I had Pepper to help me out.”

“Do you love her?”

There’s a moment of hesitation before Tony nods. “I do. She’s great. I’m…I’m happy.”

Steve nods and glances down at his lap. “I’m happy for you,” he says and looks up at Tony again, forcing a smile. “Honest.”

“Really? You don’t seem like it.”

Steve says nothing, his eyes drifting toward the photo Morgan had discovered of them. He put it back up on the mantle of the fireplace, and occasionally he’d look at it and reminisce about the time when he had Tony and they were happy.

For a while Steve thought he’d return from his time on the run and Tony would give him a second chance. It was crazy to believe that would happen given everything that’s happened between them, but Steve thought what they had was strong enough to withstand anything.

“I’m not,” Steve finds himself admitting, his eyes still locked on the old photograph. He finally looks over at Tony and continues. “I still love you. I thought we could fix all the bad things and raise our daughter together. But I come back and you’ve moved on. I try to tell myself that I’m happy you settled down, but it’s all a lie. I wish it had been with me.”

Tony nods, absorbing Steve’s words. He surprises Steve by saying, “So do I.”

Steve frowns, for a moment thinking he misheard, but he never gets the chance to ask Tony more about it because Morgan comes running into the room.

“You ready to go, kiddo?” Tony jumps up from his seat and moves toward her, scooping her up into his arms.

“I don’t want to leave yet. We just got here.” Morgan pouts. She wiggles to try and get free but Tony keeps a firm grip on her.

“We better get going.”

Steve stands. “Tony—”

“We’ll talk later. Maybe you can come by or something. I’ll figure it out and let you know.”

Steve isn’t having it and he rushes over to Tony. “Don’t. Whatever you’re thinking…please don’t take her from me.”

“We have to go,” Tony says, and he pushes past Steve.

Morgan cries, begging to stay a little longer. Steve watches as they leave, his heart shattering into a million pieces.

Tony tosses and turns for most of the night, his mind replaying his conversation with Steve. It caught him off guard to know that Steve still had feelings for him. For a while he had been lying to himself, and he spent years trying to move on and rid himself of those strong feelings that still lingered. He married Pepper and was happy. He loved her, but he wasn’t in love with her. Not like he was with Steve.

After a few failed attempts at trying to sleep, Tony gets out of bed. The first thing he does is check on Morgan, finding her still asleep with her favorite stuffed animal in her arms. He smiles and kisses the top of her head, then he makes his way downstairs.

He contemplates reaching out to Steve, but given how late it was, he decides to not bother. What was he going to say to him? Opening up to others has always been difficult for him. It took him months when he first admitted his feelings for Steve.

They’ve always had their ups and downs. Some days were really good and then there were times when Tony wondered why they were together in the first place. The issues with the Accords and Bucky brought out a different side of them. Tony never thought that they’d get to a point where they would grow apart.

He sighs and leans forward, one hand coming up to rub at his head. His mind drifts to Morgan and how all of this was going to affect her. For years Tony tried to keep her life simple and carefree, but now Steve was back and everything he built was falling apart.

“What am I going to do?” he says to himself.

“Tony?”

Tony snaps his head up to find Pepper coming toward him, her brows creased with concern.

“What are you doing up?” she asks and she sits down beside him and lays a hand over his shoulder.

“Can’t sleep. Just…thinking,” Tony replies.

Pepper smiles softly. “You never did know how to quiet that brain of yours,” she says. Then her smile falters and her expression turns serious. “It’s about him, isn’t it? You never told me how the visit went.”

Tony heaves out a sigh and he reaches for her hand, a pang of guilt hitting him at the sight of the wedding band on her finger. He circles the ring, his chest growing tight. “Do you think we made a mistake?” he asks, his voice soft.

“I do now,” Pepper replies and Tony looks up at her. “I know you still love him. I’ve had my suspicions for a while.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Did something happen?” she asks and Tony shakes his head. “But it could have?”

“He said he loved me. I promise I wouldn’t have done anything to hurt you. I do love you, Pep. I love the life we created.”

“Tony,” Pepper says softly and takes both of his hands. “You’re not in love with me. You’re in love with him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I just want you and Morgan to be happy. If you think that’s with him then…you need to be with him.”

She slips her hands free and takes the ring off her finger and places it in his palm. Tony glances down at it, his eyes filling with tears.

She leans in close and kisses the top of his head. “I’ll call a lawyer in the morning. I think you should talk to him.”

“And what about you?” Tony asks, looking at her again. “I never meant for any of this to happen. We were so happy.”

“We were.” Pepper smiles sadly. “But you’re not in this. I’d rather we separate and you work things out with him. Morgan needs both of her parents.”

“She still needs you. I still want you around.”

“I’ll still be there for her.” Pepper rises to her feet. “I’m going to check on her. Go talk to him.”

Tony nods. “I will.”