Chapter 55

Tony broke his promise, and Daisy was glad for it. When she woke up she was alone in the infirmary and saw a battle raging around Stark Towers on the TV in front of her. There in the midst of it was her dad. An army of aliens destroyed everything in sight, and yet Iron Man fought back with all his strength. The Avengers truly seemed to be winning.

Daisy, despite feeling like shit, sat up to watch the battle unfolding. More than anything she wanted to be out there fighting, helping, but she knew she'd have been no use. She was a good fighter when 100%, but with a broken leg she'd have just been a target. A target that every Avenger would have been working to protect. Daisy being there might very well have gotten one of them killed.

At one point Daisy realized her dad was no longer being shown on camera. Fear crept into her as she wondered what happened. Where was he? Had he gotten hurt and the news was trying to keep the peace by not showing? Was he dead?

The vibrating of Daisy's phone spooked her out of her thoughts. Quickly she snatched it up; it was her dad. "Dad? Dad? Are you okay?"

"Oh thank God you're awake," Tony sounded relieved, which only worried Daisy more. "Daisy, I'm not going to lie to you and I don't have much time so you need to listen. I'm carrying a nuke right now, and I'm about to go right through that hole to space with it."

Daisy's breath caught. He was what? "Dad just throw it! Please I can't lose you!"

"You're not going to lose me," he didn't sound so sure of that, and Daisy felt tears streaming down her face. No! No! No! "Daisy I promise I'll come back to you, but if I didn't… if for some reason I didn't come back someday I need you to know that I love you and that you coming into my life was the best thing to ever happen to me. I never felt loved by my father, but now I can't even imagine him not loving me. I can't imagine a father who didn't love their child so much that he'd… that he'd die for her."

"You can't die," Daisy whispered wondering when he'd go through the hole and lose connection. "Not today not ever. Please. Don't do this."

"I love you Daisy," Tony promised and Daisy finally caught sight of him again on the news, flying right into space. "Remember that and tell Pepper that I…"

The phone cut out and Daisy let out a choking sob. No! He had to come back. Any second he'd come back through the portal and be fine. He had to be fine.

The beam opening the portal shut off, and Daisy cried out. No! Her dad wasn't back yet. They couldn't close it. He just needed a few more seconds!

Just as the portal shut Daisy noticed a streak of red falling through it. He had come back through. He was safe. Her dad had made it. He wasn't dead… this time.

Daisy was invited to go out for dinner with the Avengers, and she readily took up the offer. Something told her they would have just eaten in silence if not for her, and she couldn't possibly have that.

Afterwards Daisy returned with her dad to the now-destroyed Stark tower. She couldn't help but laugh that only the A survived, and suspected that her dad probably had some new ideas about what that A could stand for. Daisy knew she most certainly did.

"What was it you were going to have me tell Pepper?" Daisy finally asked as the two of them sat on the half-broken couch in the dark. "When you were going through the portal you told me to tell Pepper something. What was it?"

Daisy couldn't see her dad's face, but she could imagine the pained look on it. "I wanted you to tell her that I love her. Daisy, maybe it makes me a horrible father, but I wanted to call her just as much as I wanted to call you."

"That doesn't make you a horrible dad," Daisy promised fumbling in the dark to find and hold his hand. "It only means that she's as much your family as I am. I feel the same way about her. Hell, I call her mom half the time. You should tell Pepper though, that you love her, that you see her as family."

Tony laughed, but didn't sound too amused. "She'd ask why I didn't just propose and make it official."

Pepper would never do that. She understood that Tony wasn't comfortable with the idea of commitment. Yet now that he had mentioned it… Daisy had never imagined her father marrying Pepper either, but what if he did?

"I think you should. Marry Pepper that is. She's the only person who can put up with you for the rest of your lives. She's already your rock, and I know she loves you the same as you love her. You should propose to her. I would love to see you too married."

Daisy could make out a faint smile on her dad's face. "I wouldn't do that to her. Pepper wants kids, I'm sure of it. And I… I'm not exactly the father type."

Daisy laughed at loud at that. "You realize you just said that to your daughter."

"I didn't mean," Tony sounded guilty. "I'm not saying…"

"I know what you're saying," Daisy saved him, stifling her laughter so not to embarrass him more. "You're saying you wouldn't know what to do with a baby. To be honest I don't think babies are part of Pepper's plan, but even if they were I think you'd be a great father. And I, for one, am talking out of experience."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Tony asked planting a soft kiss on his daughter's temple.

Daisy smiled bright, "Does this mean you're going to do it? Is Pepper actually going to be my mom?"

"Like you said, you're both my family. I may as well make it official. Thank you Daisy, this is another thing I don't think I ever would have done without you."

"What else are daughters for?"


Okay, this is it, the end. I'm very sad to see it over, but I'm glad as well. It's been a little crazy month and a half. 79K in a month and a half? That's insane! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. There is a sequel. It's all plotted out on my computer... I just need to write it. I'm writing a star wars fic at the moment which is kind of time sensitive so I need to finish that before I can write the sequel. I promise you will have a sequel though, and probably before Civil War comes out. Also, I sorta need Civil War to write the second half of the sequel, so it will probably be around May you bet the sequel. Don't hate me! I only ever made you wait more than 24 hours once in the past month and a half. You can now wait a few months for the next fic. It's less time than we spend waiting between movies.

Thank you again for reading and reviewing. This is the fourth most reviewed fic in the whole category, and that's just unfathomable for me. So thank you all so much for reading. I'll miss your reviews as I try to get the sequel done. Thanks again, and don't kill me for the wait!