I Thought You Were Different: Part 6

Surrender

ANGST WARNING

HEAVY ANGST WARNING

I MEAN IT

~~~

"Dad, move your wrinkly old butt!"

"Ah, the lack of respect just warms the heart," Tony laughed as he approached the quinjet to meet you. "I remember a day when we had just a little bit left around here."

"Really? What day was that?"

"I think it was a Tuesday about five years ago."

"Touché," you smiled in return. You secured your own suitcases and turned to add Steve's to yours, clearing enough space to add Tony's as well, but he didn't appear behind you with them as quickly as you had expected him to. When you turned back around to see what the delay was, he was standing a few feet away, staring at his phone with a grumpy look on his face. "Dad, come on, we're gonna be late."

"Um, right...hold on."

"No. Dad, you promised, no work getting in the way. Pepper said that everything was taken care of with multiple back-ups so that you could both leave together. There can't be anything on that phone important enough to keep you here."

He lifted his head to look at you, and you immediately knew that it was a battle you weren't going to win. You gave it your best, but it was clear that you may as well just give up and not lose any further energy on the topic. "I just need a few hours, honey. It won't take long."

"I've heard that before."

"Yeah, but this time I mean it. I don't want to be late, either." Tony pushed his phone back into his pocket and set his suitcase aside, making his way up the jet ramp to meet you but stopping just short of it. It was probably safer to talk about this with a little distance between you, after all. "You guys go ahead, I'll just grab a jet from Stark and meet you in Wakanda in the morning. It's getting late anyway."

"Alright," you reluctantly agreed, "I'll let Ant know that you'll see him then. Maybe just shoot him a text too, so I don't take the full brunt of his reaction, please." He was just about to turn away to go, but you coughed with annoyance to get his attention; when he looked back, you were standing expectantly with arms extended and a look that dared him to keep walking away.

"Shit, sorry!" he hurried back and nearly toppled you with his force as he took your offer. "Fly safe, kiddo, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"See you tomorrow. Love you too."

~~~

Natasha and Clint were the first to arrive in Wakanda with Allie and Nik, joined by Wanda and Vision with William, while Bucky, Sam, and Becca flew in with you, Steve, and your three. Now that you had offered some sort of recompense by saving her dad, Becca had apologized over and over about her outburst and things were getting back to normal between you. You felt fairly certain that her dads had quite a lot to do with her change in attitude, but the girl was a smart ten-year-old and you couldn't dismiss her intentions so easily.

Everyone else who didn't have the fortune of flying with such a full gene pool around them took their own jet in together, spilling out onto the launch pad like it was a rowdy family vacation. It wouldn't have been too far from the truth, actually, after so much had gone on and everyone had just faced the imminent loss of two of their own. This group had earned some time away, and the invitation by T'Challa and his country was readily taken without question.

"Hey," Scott approached, catching your attention, "where's Tony? I thought he was flying in with you?"

"He got called away to some last-second work, the usual. He's flying in with Pepper tomorrow morning."