Pressure // MARVEL // PETER PARKER

CHAPTER 20: f e e l s

GOD, MORGAN WAS stressed. Like, genuinely, really, horribly stressed. And terrified. She felt the pressure of having to do it the right way, seeing as the universe depended on them. With that, she knew it was going to be very dangerous. She truly hoped no one would get hurt. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if somebody did.

'Morgan, I want you to stay hidden the whole time, you understand?' Tony told her daughter, looking into her brown eyes. Morgan didn't meet his look and nodded absentmindedly. 'That means no talking and no interfering.' Morgan nodded again. 'When Thanos is here, you're not coming out until I tell you.' A third nod.

A silence fell upon father and daughter.

'Maguna, honey,' Tony asked. He knew his daughter far too well for this, 'are you all right?'

Those two nicknames, the warm and sweet words... They caused the tears to fall down Morgan's face. She didn't make a sound, hoping the crying would stop if she would hold her breath long enough. However, it didn't. It was too much for her to hold in. The pain, the worry, the sadness, the confusion... It was too much pressure for her to bear.

Tony quickly took a step closer to his daughter and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Morgan placed her hands on his back, gratefully holding her dad. She hid her face in his left shoulder. It was a small gesture for shelter, but the warmth and soothing embrace was more than enough to feel the bad emotions slowly fade away.

'I'm- I'm so scared,' Morgan whispered, not trusting her voice. 'What if you die? Or Peter dies? Or I do? What if, when we go home, dad isn't there? Or he lost his family? Or I do? What if-'

Tony interrupted her anxious rambling with a calm voice. 'Morgan, you're making yourself crazy. Stop telling yourself those things. They're all "what if's." You can't know what's going to happen. So stop pretending you should be able to.'

'But if you did, if you died, it would be my fault. Without me Ellie would have never hurt you. We would never have to move and we wouldn't have that conversation in the park and Strange wouldn't go to us and we wouldn't be in space and we would still be happy and safe.'

Tony ended the hug, by softly grabbing Morgan's shoulders and keeping her on a distance. He looked her into her brown eyes that reminded him of a deer's. Just as innocent, just as vulnerable, just as beautiful.

'Did you tell Ellie to blackmail you?' Tony told her daughter firmly. 'Is Thanos threatening the universe because you wanted that? None of this is your fault, Maguna. Don't tell yourself it is.'

Morgan's voice broke, just as she predicted. 'But I still miss her, dad. And I shouldn't, because she hurt you, but I can't hate her.'

Then it hit Tony. This girl, his girl was crying because she was taught to feel and not feel certain things. She felt pressured to be normal, to be like every other normal human being. She felt pressured to be someone her family could be proud of. Little did she know she wasn't like others. Little did she know that that was why her dads were already proud of her.

'That's not a bad thing, honey. It's your strength. That's what makes you you. You understand people, see the good in them. Don't make yourself hate her. Allow yourself to feel what you feel,' Tony assured her daughter. Her tears had stopped, but she looked still so fragile.

'And- And I'm still fighting with Peter-'

'All right, problem solved, if we shoot him with our repulsors he'll be too scared to be fighting with you.'

Morgan smiled, her eyes getting her usual twinkle back again. 'No, it's my fault. He didn't tell me about him being Spider-Man. I get that, being a superhero means keeping your identity a secret. Maybe you didn't think that with your press conference and all, but he's a teenager. It only makes sense he did.'