Babysitting a Superhero (Stark's daughter X Peter Parker)

20. Aftermath

Backseat Rider - Sara Kays
You lived down the block
We met for the first time
At the bus stop
We sat side-by-side
Third seat from the back
We talked the whole ride

The trip home was rough. The second they got on the ship, Wanda began crying. Amara felt awful, she took her to the side and Natasha was close behind. They sat on the floor and just attempted to comfort Wanda as best as they could. Hugging her and telling her that it would all be okay.

Between having to comfort Wanda and the others, Amara also had to relive the whole thing by filling out the debriefing forms for herself and Wanda - she had volunteered to fill them out for the whole team so nobody had to relive it, especially Wanda, Steve, Sam and Natasha told her she didn't have to worry, they'd do it themselves.

Amara had saved 26 people, which wasn't a lot, but that was all she could do. Steve and Sam led fire and rescue and saved another 34. They were unsure about how many people were injured, or even worse, didn't make it.

The thought kept Amara from falling asleep that night. As she lay awake, facing the ceiling, she thought of all the people who had lost their lives, their families who had to live with the fact that the superheroes sworn to protect them couldn't protect their child or sibling or parent or friend.

Amara felt tears running down her cheeks, she didn't feel like wiping them, it somehow felt good to cry, like all of the weight of the day had been lifted off of her for a brief moment.

Amara had undergone her fair share of trauma in her time as a superhero, it sort of comes with the job, but she has never felt responsible for this level of damage before, and she hated the feeling.

Amara has always placed this pressure onto herself to be strong for everybody else, to make sure her friends are okay before she even has time to process what's going on.

She wasn't sure how long she lay weeping on her bed, but she suddenly heard her bedroom door open. Her father peeked through the small crack of her door, and Amara assumed he wasn't aware that she was awake.

The door creaked as he opened it wider, "Shh," he said, quietly, looking at the door and putting his finger over his mouth in a shushing gesture.

Tony walked over to where Amara was laying with her eyes closed, in an attempt to hide the tears in her eyes. Then he leaned over, stroked the hair off of her forehead and placed a kiss on her forehead. Amara crinkled her eyebrows and smiled. That was when he realised she was awake.

He stood up straight an cleared his throat, "Amara? Kid, are you awake?"

"Mm-hm."

He scrunched his nose in confusion, "Are you... crying?"

"No, of course not!" Amara denied while trying to discreetly wipe her tears.

Tony knew not to push, so he continued, "I heard what happened. I wanted to come and check on you, but I know that when you're stressed, you like to take long baths, so I waited for a bit." He was right, Amara did have a long bath. "I thought you'd be sleeping now, but I guess you probably can't. You okay, kid?"

"Yeah..." she said, sitting upright.

"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, remember?"

"I'm okay," Amara said, tears pooling in her eyes.

"You're crying again."

"I'm just overwhelmed, okay," Amara said, wiping her tears and sniffling.

"I know, I get it, it can be hard. And I know that you're strong and there are a lot of people that rely on you for a lot, but you're allowed to show emotions. And you're allowed to cry," Tony said, trying his best to put what he's trying to say into full sentences, "you can... cry if you want."