stark, peter parker

xxii. just know that i am feeling a lot of things on the inside

when dakota got back home, she still felt an ache in her chest. she still had morgan, she still had hazel, and she had gotten peter back. but the loss of her father left her feeling empty, as if a piece of herself was missing. even if he didn't always show it, tony stark was his daughter's biggest supporter, and was always there for her. now that she didn't have him, she didn't want to face what life was like.

dakota looked at herself in the mirror, carefully putting on concealer to cover the dark spots under her eyes. she moved almost robotically, as if it wasn't even herself who was in charge of her actions anymore. she gently applied her mascara, smoothening out her black mini-skirt dress. she bit her lip to keep it from quivering, clasping on a simple gold necklace. she was about to attend her father's funeral. the sentence didn't sound right.

pepper had found a video that tony had recorded before leaving with the time machine. once dakota was in the living room and seated, pepper began to play the video on a projection from the iron man helmet. the stark family was all there. pepper and morgan sat with her on the couch, while happy hogan and rhodey stood behind them.

"everybody wants a happy ending, right?" the holographic tony said. "but it doesn't always roll that way. maybe this time. i'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. i hope families are reunited, i hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. if there ever was such a thing. god, what a world. universe, now. if you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, i mean, i wouldn't have been surprised. but come on, you know? the epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. and, for better or worse, that's the reality morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in."

"so i thought i'd probably better record a little greeting... in the case of an untimely death on my part. i mean, not that, death at any time isn't untimely. this time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's– it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. that's the thing. then again, that's the hero gig. part of the journey is the end." the holographic tony stood, walking towards his camera. "what am i even trippin' for? everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to." he leaned down and smiled, looking directly at morgan and dakota. "i love you 3,000." he said to his daughters as the hologram cut out.

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

pepper carried a wreath in her hands, walking outside the house. the rest of the avengers stood outside, and dakota made her way through them, holding morgan in her arms. she didn't dare to meet anyone's eyes, only looking at her sister.

when the stark women made their way to the edge of the dock, pepper carefully lay the wreath on the lake. on top of it was tony's first arc reactor from 2008. pepper had, at the time, framed it with the words "proof that tony stark has a heart" around it.

dakota crouched down, her sister still in her arms as she looked at the wreath. she watched as it slowly drifted across the water, moving away from her. she bit the inside of her cheek, closing her eyes sadly.

after a brief moment, she opened her eyes again, looking over at morgan, who was extremely confused by the whole situation. "let's go inside, okay?" she said softly, standing back up and following pepper back through the crowd.

she stopped for a moment when she got to her fellow avengers, wordlessly wrapping her arms around hazel, who gave her shoulders a firm squeeze. there was nothing to be said. dakota pulled away after a moment, giving a small smile to the other remaining avengers before continuing her walk towards the house. 

she paused again by peter, who was standing next to aunt may. "thank you for coming." she said to may, who only nodded.

"of course." she replied, giving dakota a half hug before smiling at morgan.