Legacy of Eccentrics

Iron Heart

'Picture this...

The year is 2030; the earth is enshrouded in a bubble of isolation and silence. It seems that the superheroes have clocked out long ago, and with nobody to defend humanity... Well, we took it upon ourselves to go into life-long hibernation. My dad would have coaxed everyone out of their homes with just a smile, back before the snap. He changed after that... and then died, like a stupid moro-'

'Morgan?'

The snap of chestnut brown hair erupted from behind the bench, revealing startled Tennessee Whiskey coated eyes and a charming, yet antagonising, smile. Pepper swallowed her sadness, as she did most days when talking to her deceased husband's carbon copy. Morgan Stark, as much as she lamented it, was never really much like her mother. She was erratic, hilarious and brilliant all at once; she carried her father's smile and bravery wherever she went, which- albeit, wasn't very far these days.

'What, mom? I'm busy!' she groaned, shuffling her feet forwards like a toddler until she collapsed onto Pepper's chest. 'I'm writing about the apocalypse and stuff, so people can remember me when I'm dead,'

Pepper blinked, gulped, and slowly tugged her wild child away so they could talk face to face.

'Well... you've got plenty of time for that, honey. What's the rush?'

Pepper may not have superhuman DNA or a Tony Stark level IQ, but she wasn't dense. Morgan was reaching that age where asking questions about her mortality and, in turn, her father, was increasingly likely. Pepper had been preparing herself for this conversation for years; she supposed she'd never truly be ready to... talk about him like that, again. Anthony Edward Stark was a reactor shaped hole in her heart which never truly went away.

'I'm 11 now, right. I'm 11, which means statistically, I'm 3% closer to dying than I was last year! That's assuming I make it to 80, which it is also probable I won't. Dad didn't, did he? Or Natasha, or Loki, or May, or-,'

'You know, your Dad never really cared for statistics,' Pepper sighed, smirking a little bit behind her serious demeanor. 'Did you know that when he took his first official suit... Mark One, on a test-drive, the Diagnostics hadn't even been looked at before he was whizzing off into the city, dodging buildings and... you know, falling out of the sky?'

Morgan ogled her mother with an expression of awe. She wished Tony could have seen it.

'He defied statistics all the time! He built a wearable weapon to free himself from his kidnappers, he survived poisoning of the heart, he managed to woo me! Goodness knows how, it's just something about that Stark smile,'

Pepper pinched Morgan's cheeks, resulting in the grin she knew it would.

'But mom, I'm not Dad,' Morgan huffed, her grin fading ever-so-slightly. 'I'm just... me. I've never fought bad guys or invented engines or... well, maybe a few but not as good as Dad!'.

'Tony didn't think he would ever amount to his father's legacy, either, sweetheart, and he became braver and better than he ever was,' Pepper reassured, brushing off her skirt and straightening her spine, kissing her lovely daughter on the forehead before spinning on her heel and swaying towards the door. 'A Stark's determination to be the brightest on the board is a bigger asset than their knowledge,'

And with that, she was gone, leaving behind her signature scent of fresh laundry and pears. Morgan chewed on her lip for a little while, pondering that, and decided to herself that nobody was going to help except herself. If Morgan wanted ideas, inspiration and fame, she was going to have to visit her little old Dad.