From his place on the holo-screen, Harley shared the same wide-eyed look of both astonishment and fear that Peter and Morgan had upon witnessing the incredible pace of MJ's work on her new draft of Tony's A.I. form.

"Okay, people, it's getting weirdly quiet in here," MJ said, her eyes zeroing in with complete and total focus on her screen, which was currently concentrated solely on Tony's hairline and forehead. "Give me words!"

"Like what?" asked Morgan.

"Just…anyone keep talking. And don't stop."

Peter gave an uncomfortable grimace. "Um…'k. I…found a frozen pizza in the freezer earlier ago, and I've been thinking about making it for the past hour if anyone's also hungry."

With only the slightest flick of her eyes, MJ shot a glare at him. "Relevant things, dummy. I need more about Tony."

"Uh," Peter stammered, taking a seat next to her as she chiseled out the contours of his face. "Well…what else do you want me to say?"

"Anything," she repeated. "Just…give me a memory. The earliest memory you have of him. Any of you."

Harley started with, "I remember just finding The Tony Stark squatting in my garage. Back when I thought that would be the most surreal thing that would ever happen to me."

While still gazing at her work, MJ raised a skeptical eyebrow to Tony's red interface hovering nearby. "You got a breaking and entering problem there, Stark? Because if I'm remembering right, you pulled the same crap with Peter and May in Queens, right?"

"Yeah, might have to pick a new topic," Tony mused. "I kind of just showed up at each of their homes unannounced and unwelcome. Except Morgan. That time she was the one who showed up unannounced."

While the others chuckled, Peter remained stoic. Slowly, the corners of his lips moved upward into a slight smile as he began with, "Actually, that wasn't the first time I met you, Tony."

Everyone, including MJ, turned their full attention on Peter. "Really?" asked Morgan, delighted at the prospect of a new story about her father.

Peter asked MJ, "Do you remember the Stark Expo? Back in 2010?"

"We were little, but yeah," she replied as she returned back to her work. "It totally screwed up the subway commutes."

Tony interjected here. "Yeah? Try being on the inside of that thing during the unexpected attack from within!"

She snorted. "No kidding. I remember feeling the blasts shaking my bed."

Peter was pensive again, saying quietly, "You remember that security footage that went viral? It was all over the news of Iron Man saving the kid dressed up like him? How he let him think he took down a Hammer bot?"

MJ smiled despite still being focused on her work. "Yeah, that image was everywhere. Really drove that wholesome 'hometown hero' vibe, eh A.I.?"

"Hey, the kid had guts staring down a killer drone like that," Tony commented. Taking a pause, he then said, "Or he was just incredibly stupid. Either or."

"Both," Peter replied. "He's both."

MJ's hand froze mid-stroke at this. She looked up slowly, realizing what he was implying. Harley beat her to the question. "Oh my god. Pete, that was you?"

Morgan hastily looked up the photo on her phone and upon finding it, glanced between her screen and Peter, mouth agape. "No way!"

Peter's eyes stayed on MJ as he just gave a small shrug. "The kid had a thing for masks. I guess we'll never know for sure," he said with a coy grin.

Tony was baffled. "You…you never said anything. All those years, and I show up in your aunt's apartment and you say nothing?"

"Well I mean…when you come home from school and Tony Stark is in your living room? You're not gonna just be like, 'Oh hey, you remember that kid that one time—' You probably saved hundreds of kids! And what if you didn't remember me, and then it would have just been awkward—"

"Yeah! Because a six year-old facing a killer drone is easy to forget!"

"I was nine," Peter protested.

"—and unaccompanied, mind you."

"My parents were there." Again, MJ froze. Peter rarely talked about his parents. Tony too remained silent, waiting for him to give further details. What he said was brief, but nevertheless powerful: "In the attack, we got separated. I remember a volunteer helping me find them afterwards. That news footage came out a couple days after that. I remember my dad—he was so proud! He taped it on our TV and played it over and over again for my uncle, the neighbors, the mailman even! 'Look! That's my boy! That's my boy saving the day with Iron Man!'" He chuckled at the memory, then grew stoic again. "They were both gone not long after that, my parents. Up until Hammer's tech went AWOL, that was one of the best of the last few days we had together. …and it was the first with you, Tony."

As the room again fell quiet, reflecting on the genuinely heartfelt moment, MJ approached her drawing from a new angle. She aimed her outstretched hands at the screen to swivel the rendering to the side in order to better form his cheekbones and nose. She kept eyeing a nearby reference image of Tony exiting a cab in Monaco, and no matter what she tried, her drawing didn't seem to match up. Feeling herself getting frustrated, she said as she ran her fingers through her hair, "Okay, what else? What's anyone else got?"

Morgan sat atop her workbench, swinging her legs absentmindedly as she pondered what to say. Finally, she asked, "What about you, MJ? What's your first memory of my dad?"

MJ shot her a skeptical look. "Well, it all started eight hours ago…"

"No!" laughed Morgan. " I mean like, when did you first hear about him?"

"Oh man…well that'd have to be the media for sure."

"Like tech journals and stuff?"

"No, like celebrity gossip rags and TMZ." MJ looked to Harley and Peter for backup. "You guys remember that?"

"Oh yeah, for sure," Harley said. "We were really young, so it all mostly went over my head, but I remember before the Iron Man press conference announcement it was pretty much just gossip about where he'd spent a night clubbing or who he was dating."

"Seriously?" Morgan said, overjoyed at discovering this different side to her dad.

"Yeah!" MJ agreed. "Like the headlines would read, 'So-and-so seen leaving with Tony Stark!'"

"Okay," Tony interjected, "Let's go back to 'me as a role model for the youth of the world,' stories, shall we?"

Peter chimed in, "I remember my parents and I were trying to visit May and Ben around the holidays, but it took forever because the city straight up closed down a street when you were partying at a club in Queens."

"And yet he keeps going…" Tony grumbled to himself.

"Yeah, who was that actress you were dating?" Harley asked. "The one that was on, like, every show?"

MJ snorted. "Which one?"

"OKAY!" Tony loudly announced. "We're officially done with that topic! Morgan, stop grinning like that."

"What did I do?" she whined.

"I know you, and in a short time you're going to start acting like a teenaged idiot and use this newly acquired info as an excuse to start acting wild. Don't even think about it!"

Morgan continued to protest, which developed into a good-natured quarrel between father and daughter. But MJ eventually tuned them out, studying Tony's profile which from the side still wasn't shaping out as she wanted it to. From his place beside her, Peter intuited her displeasure and asked quietly, "What's wrong with it?"

"I can't tell," she replied. "It's not the hair. It's not the nose. I feel like I'm falling into the same issue I had last time." She eyed the half-broken helmet sitting amongst the former belongings that Morgan had accumulated. She picked it up gingerly, holding it away from her so that it was alongside her rendering. "Maybe it's the scale?" She brought the helmet close to her face, reaching her hand inside as she said, "I'm trying to get a sense of the size of his head, but—"

Just then, the helmet came to life with a series of high-pitched beeps that caused MJ to start and drop the helmet with a deep thud. Tony instantly stopped talking and Morgan leapt off her workbench to scramble to pick it up, but before she could get there, a bright light emanated from one of the visor's eyes and projected just to the left of Harley's holo-screen. They all saw a projection of Tony seated in a chair though the image occasionally grew pixelated and the sound was incoherent, glitching robotically in and out.

"What is this?" MJ asked Peter. "There's…already a hologram?"

Peter, who had never seen this before, only shook his head in confusion.

Morgan kept her gaze firmly fixated on the helmet as she fiddled around with it, not looking at all in the direction of the projection. "How do you turn this off? Dad?"

"No, Morgan, wait!" Harley sounded from his screen, adjusting his camera view so that he could see it better. The sound, though still garbled, was becoming a bit more clear. "…epic forces of darkness and light… come into play. …ter or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gon… find a way to grow up in."

Though Morgan had stopped trying to forcibly turn off the device, she was frozen, her eyes downcast. Peter clocked her behavior, and upon realizing the video's significance, immediately knelt on the ground next to her and wrapped an arm over her shoulders comfortingly.

"What is this?" MJ repeated. "I don't understand."

Tony's A.I. finally explained. "This… was my final message. In case of emergency."

Harley suddenly put it together. "This was the video they played for his immediate family at the funeral."

MJ now understood why Morgan was so upset by the video and couldn't bring herself to watch it. On the contrary, MJ's eyes were now glued to the projection, which was now nearly seamless and perfectly clear. "This time travel thing that we're going to trying to pull off tomorrow, it's got me scratching my head at the survivability of… this thing. But then again, that's the hero gig. You know, part of the journey is the end." The video of the once-living Tony stood, nearing the helmet to turn off its recording device. "What am I even tripping for?" he said. "Everything is going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to." He gave a loving smile as he said his parting words, "I love you 3000," and vanished.

All was still until MJ slowly knelt down next to the helmet and prodded it. "How do I play it again?"

"No, please don't," Morgan pleaded, her face sullen.

"I just need that last part. The '3000' thing," MJ assured her. "Is there a way to skip to that?"

"No, just…please don't play it again, MJ, okay?"

"Here—why don't we go outside? Get some air?" Peter offered, helping her to her feet. But they paused when Tony reported, "I can hack into it. The more advanced suits were linked to Friday. Give me a minute. Peter? You got Morgan?"

"Yessir," he confirmed, leading the dower girl her outside the shed. The A.I. fell silent as he worked to infiltrate the tech in the Mark L helmet. MJ and Harley watched as the helmet began to flicker to life again.

She knelt alongside it, peering inside the visor. "Can you remotely access it?"

"Getting there," Tony replied.

"When you do, gimme just the '3000' part."

Suddenly, the projector restarted and sped through the video, racing through Tony rising to his feet and approaching the camera. Here, A.I. Tony resumed the video's natural rhythm as he uttered, "I love you 3000."

"Freeze on that!" MJ ordered.

He did. MJ grew closer to the image, studying it. There. There it is! she thought. She raced back to her table and manipulated her rendering so that the hologram now faced her. She began intricately moving her stylus around his eyes, periodically turning back to look at the frozen projection.

"You certainly seem inspired," Harley said to her.

She smiled. "That puts it lightly— I'm stoked! I finally figured out what's wrong!"

"Nice!" he said encouragingly. He eyed the projection himself. "Tony, when you get a moment, send me that video. Its formatting will help immensely when we start animating MJ's design."

"You got it," Tony replied. "Just don't go spreading it around. It's some of my best work. That's all I'd need is an entire generation of aspiring actors badly reciting that speech for their reels, god forbid."

After ensuring that Morgan was okay, Peter re-entered the shed and joined MJ at the table. Morgan was more hesitant to enter and taking a deep breath, stood directly adjacent to the projection and forced herself to look upon it. Though she was too young to remember much of her father's funeral, she had vividly remembered the video, and had only watched it in full one other time: When she was nine years old and feeling particularly lonesome one day, she snuck into her father's old study to retrieve it and ordered Friday to play the message again. Instead of feeling closer to her dad, she ended up feeling further away than ever and was completely beside herself with grief, missing her father dearly. She vowed to never watch it again.

Her father's A.I. form sounded near her. "Morguna. I'm here. It's okay."

Warmed by his presence, she smiled softly. "I know. It just…it was a bad day seeing that."

After a moment, he replied, "It was a bad day filming it too."

They were getting close now. The amount of focus in the room was so sharp that if questioned, no one would be able to tell if they had been working for one hour or ten.

"No…the glasses. They're not right," Harley was saying, typing rapidly into his own computer system. "At least not that model for the age you're going for, M'. Let me see what I can find…"

"Oh, go with E.D.I.T.H.," Peter said, elbowing his fiancee encouragingly. "It's a simple design and I know it like the back of my hand, I can walk you through it."

"Oh no need," MJ muttered begrudgingly. "I remember E.D.I.T.H. all too well."

"No, what about those yellow ones from that one photo of him?" Morgan suggested, scrolling through her phone rapidly. "I'm trying to find it…"

Tony countered, "Nah, go without the glasses."

"Wait, let's be clear here," Harley said. "Are you exercising your third and final veto over these glasses?" Though the group's input had proved markedly more helpful than MJ working on the design alone, when they were approaching the minutia of the rendering, each party's suggestions began impeding MJ's progress. This caused her to impose a system where each person, including Tony himself, was allowed three veto objections.

"Yes, this is my third and final veto," Tony confirmed. "No glasses saves time and makes me look younger!" He then paused. "Hey, AO— zoom out."

"You zoom out," she retorted. "Show me what you've got a problem with, but know I still have one veto left that could override you."

"So do I," Peter added.

"Me too," chirped Harley.

Tony zoomed out to a full-body image of the hologram. "I'm just realizing a super important scaling detail that's lacking."

"Give it to me," MJ said.

"Morgan, earmuffs please," he ordered. "Adult ears only."

"What?" she whined. "But why?"

"Because I said so. Earmuffs!"

"I don't see wh—"

Peter cut her off as he laid his hands over her ears. When Morgan began struggling to get free of his grasp, he used his powers to fuse his fingertips to her head. "Peter!" she shouted. "Stop! That's not fair!"

Peter looked back at Tony's red light. "What's up?"

"Just taking a look at the overall….look…and I'm thinking the weight distribution's off."

MJ, Harley and Peter squinted in concentration, trying to discern what the A.I. was referring to. "You don't like the age I picked, or…?" MJ questioned.

"No, I'm thinking that some…lower areas could use a bit of…distortion?"

The three adults in the room immediately caught on to his implication and collectively groaned "VETO," as Peter unlatched his hands from the squirming Morgan.

"Fine," fumed Tony. "But FYI, that counts for all three of you. There are officially no more vetoes left on the floor."

The lack of remaining objections began to work in MJ's favor, as neared completion of the final design without much of any interruption. With one last adjustment to his right ear, MJ zoomed out to show the room the entire hologram design, from head to toe. She had just finalized the finishing touch on the most realistic computer generated life-rendering of a human she had ever attempted, let alone completed. Modeled after Tony's physical appearance prior to the Sokovia Accords, his hair was pristinely styled and beard precise, and wore a grey Armani suit, as per the A.I.'s insistence.

MJ triumphantly dropped her stylus down on the table and raised her hands over her head in surrender. "Alright, that's it!" She stood, her eyes still glued to the screen, ever-analyzing her work. "At least I think that's it…" She waited with bated breath for their response, but was alarmed when none arrived. Daring not to turn around, she impatiently asked, "Why is everyone so quiet?" Still nothing. "…what, is it bad?"

"No," Tony's voice said warmly from behind her. "It's great."

She spun around to see the reactions of the others in the room. Harley was the only one looking at her, grinning in approval. Morgan just stared at her work in awe. "It looks just like a picture," she said. "I can't believe you made that!"

MJ took a deep breath, heart fluttering as she asked the one person whose approval she craved the most: "Peter?"

He took a shallow intake of breath and held it in, his eyes suddenly glassy. "…yeah. Yeah that's it. You got it. That's him." She felt a smile start to spread across her face as he grabbed her hand. "I can't tell what's different," he murmured. "But this is it. You got him down."

"I know," she smirked, her confidence now soaring to a place it hadn't been in years. "You know what it was?"

"What?"

"You were right: It was the eyes. I was using standard headshots, press shots, magazine cover crap we grew up seeing. And given his…winning personality, I thought that's all he was." She paused, shifting her gaze between Peter, Harley, and Morgan. "Those all lacked a soul. As dumb and cliché as it sounds…I needed love."

Suddenly, the room was engulfed in light streaming in from behind them. MJ, Morgan, and Peter shielded their eyes from the brightness. "It's morning?!" Morgan asked in disbelief.

"Oh yes," Pepper sounded from the door, stepping within the interior of the shed. "It's well into morning, and after I woke up to find everyone who should be in the house gone, I instantly knew where to find you." Her eyes scanned the room, and upon landing on the holo-table's projection of MJ's design, she gave a slight gasp, her hand instantly covering her mouth in astonishment.

MJ nervously approached Pepper. Though the others had all known the man, they only remembered him from the perspective of children. Above anyone else in the world, Pepper would know best if this was an accurate depiction of her husband. "What do you think?" MJ asked softly.

Pepper stepped closer to the table, eyeing it closely. "It's remarkable," she said. "I…I think there's only one thing I'd change."

MJ followed her to the table. She picked up the stylus and held it out to Pepper. "Here."

"Oh no. I couldn't. I wouldn't want to screw anything up."

"You won't," MJ assured her. Placing the stylus in her hand, she showed her how to expand, diminish, and manipulate an element and gave her free rein to change whatever she pleased. Though hesitant, Pepper immediately went for Tony's lips, evening out the upper and accentuating the lower. "There," she said with a grin, pulling back the stylus. "That's all. He's perfect."

"Think so?" the A.I. asked. "Not taller or younger or demonstrating more…girth in certain areas?"

"No," Pepper maintained warmly. "You're perfect."

Again, Peter took MJ's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze that warmed her heart. "What happens now?" she asked Harley.

"Well, I'm thrilled to report that the worst is over. Now I will use this design to form fit to my movement model. I anticipate it taking about a week, all told. Then I can work out the motions and program micro expressions based on his video archive so that he looks as close to real as possible."

Pepper joined her daughter at her side and brought her into a side hug. "You hear that? He's going to be so lifelike!"

Morgan gave a breathy laugh and appeared stiff, seeming a bit overwhelmed and slightly unnerved at it all. "I…I can't believe it's finally happening!"

MJ asked Harley, "You're going to do that all on your own?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Hey, this was my idea in the first place. I gotta see it through. And trust me, you've done enough."

"Agreed," Pepper said. "It's truly astounding what you've managed to accomplish, Michelle. Be incredibly proud of yourself."

MJ locked eyes with Peter, who echoed this sentiment with his reassuring grin. Though in the course of a single night, she had gone from denouncing her artistic abilities to feeling utterly rewarded for her efforts, something still wasn't sitting right with her. Pepper broke the silence by suggesting Harley to log off and get some rest, while the others joined her inside for breakfast and then a nap of their own. Still hand-in-hand with Peter, MJ stayed in place, signaling for him to also stay behind. At his inquisitive look, she called out, "Pepper, can I ask for a moment before we head out?"

Morgan was already halfway to the house, so Pepper sent her ahead without them to set the table, then joined MJ's hastily assembled meeting comprised of the two of them, Peter, Harley, and Tony. To Harley, she insisted, "I want to see this through to the end."

"MJ," Peter said, "You sure? "

She nodded emphatically. "I'm in too deep at this point."

"You would do that?" asked Harley.

"It'd be faster for you, right?"

"Yeah!" he replied eagerly. "That way if something wasn't working or matching up, I could just have you plug in a new rendering of the reaction we're trying to simulate!"

"You'd do that?" Tony asked her earnestly.

She paused, the corners of her lips turning upward slowly into a pensive grin. "I just had an idea… it might be a lot to ask, but if we do it for Morgan, I think it'd be worth it."

Morgan opened her eyes, awakening from the first night of completely uninterrupted sleep that she had had in a long time. This was especially surprising behavior given that today was the big reveal of her father's A.I. form that very day. She rolled over in Peter and MJ's spare bed to find that her mother had already gotten up. So, she got dressed, packing the small suitcase full of the clothes and her book bag with all of her homework that she'd brought along for her week-long stay with Peter at his Manhattan apartment. Meanwhile, MJ traded with the Starks, staying in their home to finish the hologram with Harley's virtual aid. She met her mom in the living room and locked eyes with her, both of them silently acknowledging the deep sense of anticipation they both felt.

Pepper grabbed her hands in hers. "Well? How are you feeling?"

Morgan took a deep breath. "Excited, I guess." she said with a small grin.

"Nervous?"

Morgan's shoulders slouched, letting go of the facade. "Yeah. I'm really nervous."

Pepper kissed the top of her daughter's head comfortingly. "Don't worry. I'm nervous too."

Peter emerged from his bedroom, grabbing his keys. "We ready? Just got word that the town car's waiting downstairs."

"I'm feeling like it would be faster if you just swung us over there!" Morgan said as they exited the apartment. She tugged on his jacket sleeve like a small child as she suggested, "C'mon, Peter. Put me in one of your suits! You know you want to!"

"Oh so what— you can web yourself in the face immediately and crash into more trees like the last time?" She wriggled away as he began tousling her hair. "Yeah, nice try. Town car will have to do."

As they boarded the elevator, Pepper said, "Hope you both don't mind, but I invited along a few friends to mark the occasion."

Peter and Morgan shared an astonished glance. "Who else is coming?" Peter asked.

It was as soon as the elevator doors opened up to the lobby that all three of them were able to catch a glimpse of two familiar faces waiting outside the apartment complex's glass doors next to a black town car.

"HAPPY! UNCLE RHODEY!" Morgan shouted, racing out the doors at top speed. She barreled into Happy, embracing him tightly. "Hey hey! You excited, kiddo?" Happy asked Morgan.

"Well now I'm even more excited that you're here!" she beamed. This was followed by a sheepish look out the corner of her eyes at Rhodey, who she still hadn't properly seen since she used his military status to divert the delivery of a high grade WMD to her house, something he was still very perturbed over. She mumbled weakly, "Hey…" Though he still appeared stern, he offered her a pat on the back as he greeted her succinctly with a firm, "Morgan."

Peter exited the building at a brisk jog, with Pepper not far behind carrying her suitcase and the one Morgan abandoned in her excitement. "Well this is a surprise!" he said. "Long time no see, guys!" He came around toward Happy, saying warmly, "It's been a minute, Hap'!"

"Yeah, yeah it has. Hey, uh…" He lowered his voice and drew closer to him. "How's your aunt? She doing okay?"

"Not returning your calls, is she?" Peter asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Happy grimaced. "No. Again."

"But still you keep trying," Peter said with a click of his tongue. "Not sure what was more traumatizing— you flirting with May, or Tony trying his luck."

Morgan perked up. "What was that?"

"Shh," Peter said while nudging her out of the way playfully. "Before your time."

"Well?" Pepper asked. "Shall we get this show on the road?"

"Yeah," Peter replied, "Only thing is that I'm not sure if we want to order another car to fit everybody. You know, in case anyone needs extra room."

Rhodey glared at Peter. "I don't know why you're looking at me—if you're implying that it's my legs or my age that requires extra space, but may I remind you just how many times I saved your scrawny ass back in the day?"

Peter scrambled to clarify, "No, no! God, no — I just…there won't be enough room for five of us plus a driver, right?"

"That's why I'm driving," Happy reported.

"But you retired, Happy!" protested Morgan. "You should be riding, not driving!"

"That's what I said, but he insisted," Pepper said, opening the door for Morgan to climb inside the rear of the car. Happy, however, rushed to take the door from her and ushered her and Peter inside while Rhodey took the front. "Ah, this feels right," Happy said upon settling behind the wheel. "Wouldn't feel like I'm traveling to see the boss without chauffeuring for his family one last time."

The drive was long but the scenery reflected the a tunnel shift of late September as they moved further and further upstate. Moreover, the company was ideal, and with Rhodey and Happy taking up the front seat, conversation was rife with memories of their days working and fighting alongside Tony, especially when Peter and Pepper would chime in from their places on either side of Morgan. Usually she would eat up these moments of idle storytelling about her dad's past, especially since she couldn't remember the last time all of these individuals were ever together in one place like this since the funeral. But instead, her mind was focused on what was about to happen. Even though she had seen the design, she wasn't certain if she was ready to see it paired with her dad's voice and mannerisms. She had frozen in place at the mere sound of the A.I. when she, Harley, and Peter had unlocked his code— she was terrified with how she might react when faced with the image of the man himself.

She began to increasingly recognize the surroundings as Happy neared the car toward her house. However, as they pulled into the driveway, it took Morgan a moment to realize the identity of the sandy-haired man sitting on the porch alongside MJ. Morgan gasped loudly, looking between Peter and her mother on either side of her for confirmation that it was true. Their grins were her confirmation.

"HAPPY, STOP THE CAR!" she shouted.

"Wha—but we're literally pulling in the drive—"

"STOP THE CAR!"

She unbuckled and climbed over Peter, who open his door despite the car still rolling to the stop. Though she tripped on her way out, she tumbled out as fast as she could toward the one and only Harley Keener who was there, at her house, in the flesh.

Upon seeing her, he rose to his feet and made his way down the steps to catch her as she came barreling into him with a hug."You're here!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Of course I'm here," he replied warmly.

"But when? When did you get in?"

"A few hours after you left," MJ sounded from the porch, casually leaning against the railing. "We made the arrangements the morning we finished the design, then I went to go pick him up once the coast was clear."

Morgan spun around towards the now-parked car, where Peter was helping her mother out of the backseat. "Did you know about this?" she asked her.

"Why did you think we stayed at Peter's?" she said. "We thought it'd be better to have all hands on deck in person, and Harley was able to make it work with his schedule."

"So you were here this whole time," Morgan said to Harley in amazement.

"Yep," he confirmed. "MJ and I have been hard at work all this week."

"And I'm amazed to see you both still alive," Peter said from the parked car, helping Pepper out of the backseat. "You two managed not to kill each other?"

"Oh I got close a couple off times," said MJ. She descended the stairs, passing Happy with a knowing salute and approaching her fiancé. "But he was just a little important to the cause, I guess." They kissed. Smiling, Peter asked her, "Is he ready?"

MJ's heart raced in her chest. She only nodded, nonverbally communicating to him the excitement and nerves that were coursing through her. She turned to the group of immediate and extended Stark family members. "Okay," she began. "If everyone would follow me into the house…" As she led the way, MJ could feel her own pulse in her throat. This was it. Though this project had begun as an unwanted entry straight into the most painful moments of her past, it had become her source of motivation. The completion of this task was integral to proving her abilities to herself, proving her doubters wrong, but most of all honoring her and her father by finally letting herself share his belief in her talent. And beyond these personal triumphs, it was a service to both the people she loved and had grown to love, to give them back a piece of their lives that had been cruelly wrenched away from them. She had gotten Harley's seal of approval. All that was left were the others.

Her breath was suspended in midair as she stood in the doorway to the house alongside Harley. He gave her a kind smile to assure her, muttering, "It's all you. "

She nodded, then looked at her friends, their expressions hopeful, patient, anxious, and uncertain. "I did everything I could to make it look like something you remember," she began. "Harley's coding was brilliant. It took a lot of work, but… I think we got him. I hope you think so too. Are you ready to see him?"

After an assemblage of affirmative responses and nervous laughs, MJ took a deep breath and ushered them in the living room, which had been cleared of furniture. Harley motioned to spectators to stand along the perimeter of the room, leaving MJ standing alone on the far right side of the bare floor. Four small, cylindrical projectors were placed on the floor in each corner of the ceiling like security cameras.

"Alright, Tony! Why don't you show them whatcha got?" she commanded.

Simultaneously, before tiny projectors burst to life, admitting a bright light into the center of the floor. After a quick glitch, a man appeared. It looked like a real human being had just asked astral projected into the room. The only indication that he wasn't actually there was that he was partially transparent and had only a barely noticeable discoloration. In typical Tony Stark flare, he initially appeared with his back to his waiting audience, turning slowly with his arms outstretched.

"Well?" he asked. "Don't tell me— better than you remember." MJ had remained in place, staring at this professional showboater, and marveling at just how lifelike the micro expressions she and Harley had spent days toiling over were performing. So much so that she saw his face betray the slightest bit of disappointment as his eyes scanned over the crowd. MJ then turned her sights toward the onlookers: Harley assessed his creation with a critical eye of an engineer, his mind already working through its first system upgrade. Though Rhodey's brow was furrowed, his mouth was upturned in the widest smile. Happy was utterly dumbstruck at what he was seeing. Pepper's eyes slowly filled with tears. And Peter… Peter only watched the form of his mentor for but a moment, his face regaining that youthful vigor of the boy she'd first fell in love with at 15. But once the moment passed, he looked instead to her, reflecting such a loving expression that she felt like her heart might burst with joy.

But MJ suddenly saw the reason for Tony's reaction: Morgan was nowhere to be found.

The room nevertheless came alive in exclamations of astonishment. "Can—can we got unto him?" Happy asked.

"Yes, of course!" MJ replied as she scanned the room for signs of the girl. "Go right ahead!"

Pepper walked up first, and Tony's face softened upon seeing her. Tentatively, she reached her hand out to touch his cheek. He leaned forward instinctively into her touch, but both were it dismayed that her hand went straight through the hologram, providing a bittersweet reminder that their reunion was still very much artificial. Pepper nevertheless remained beaming through happy tears. "You look incredible," she whispered.

Tony radiated with affection as he told her, "Half as much as you."

Happy was next, and Tony broke his gaze with his wife to eye his former valet up and down. "Thought you retired, Hap'. What's with the get-up?"

"Me, retire?" Happy laughed. "The work's never done."

"Not sure where that work ethic was when I was alive, but glad you've found it now." Tony's eyes then fell to Rhodey, giving him a smirk as he nonchalantly waved up and down his new form. "Well? Thoughts?"

Rhodey couldn't pass up the opportunity for some good-natured ribbing. "It looks alright I guess, but MJ— couldn't you have gone with a younger model?"

"Wanted to keep it realistic," MJ teased.

"Hmm…just saying… looks like this hologram's letting himself go. I'm seeing some flab."

Tony put his hands up defensively. "Okay—feeling attacked right out the gate, buddy. This feels a bit out of spite. Just because I'm ageless and you're suddenly Father Time—"

"Yeah, yeah," Rhodey chuckled. Sincerely, he said, "God it's good to have your smartass self back here."

"Feels good to be back," replied Tony. But MJ could see his eyes still searching for his daughter. He then made eye contact with her directly, shooting her a worried glance.

MJ caught Harley's eye and motioned with her head to follow her towards Peter in the front of the room. Her voice low, she asked, "Where's Morgan? In the flurry of activity, no one had notices that the youngest among them had somehow vanished. But it was in that moment that Pepper also had the same question: "Guys, where's Morgan?" Everyone fell silent.

"Morgan?" Tony called out to the house. No response.

"Let's try the shed," Peter said, grabbing MJ by the elbow. Together, they made their way across the lawn, Harley hot on their heels. Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey trailed behind, calling out her name from the porch and checking upstairs.

Peter noticed that the shed door was closed and went to reach for the handle, but MJ laid her hand atop his to stop him. She knocked first. "Morgan? You in there?"

She took a moment to respond, but both MJ and Peter could hear her short, stifled breaths from inside. "Y-yeah, I'm just getting something real quick. I'll just be a sec."

Harley arrived at the door just in time to hear her reply. The three exchanged skeptical glances, knowing that she wasn't "just getting" anything. '"You okay, Morg'?" asked Harley.

"Uh huh!" she replied with a forced tone. "Go back to the house—it's fine! I'll be there soon!"

Peter motioned for them to move away from the door to talk amongst themselves. Harley asked, "Was it the design? Did she hate it?"

"No," MJ reported. "I don't even thing she saw it. She was gone by the time he appeared."

Pepper briskly walked out the door and said as she approached them. "She's not anywhere in the house." Peter replied, "She's in the shed insisting everything's okay. We're not sure what to do."

With a mother's instinct, Pepper approached the door. "Honey, what's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter! I said I'll be there in a minute!"

"Just seems odd…you were so excited…"

"I still am, okay? Just give me a minute!"

Pepper turned back to the waiting group, giving a deep sign and a shade of her head, entirely at a loss of what to do.

Happy and Rhodey had also joined the others by then. "What's wrong?" Happy asked.

"Morgan's not coming out and is on the attack."

MJ left Peter's side to approach Pepper. "Can I try to talk to her?"

"If you can, by all means. She sometimes gets like this and shuts down, and then it's virtually impossible for anyone to get through to her."

"I think I know what she's going through." MJ proceeded to ask Peter and Harley to stay just outside the door within earshot. "In case I need to call in backup, I know she'll listen to you two," she said. She then knocked softly on the door again. "Hey Morgan?" No response. "Look, I'm not going to pretend to know how you must be feeling right now, but I know what it's like to lose your dad. You lost your hero. And for you especially. So yeah — you're scared. I know that. I don't want you to feel rushed if you don't feel ready to meet him like this. But if you want to talk, I'm here. We're all here for you."

Morgan was quiet for so long that MJ wondered if she'd somehow snuck out a window and left altogether. But at last, she heard the girl's quiet voice mutter near the door jam, "Can you come in? Just you though?"

MJ shot a quick nod at Peter, then entered slowly. Inside, Morgan was sitting just on the other side of the door against the wall, her knees tucked up against her chest.

MJ sat cross-legged on the floor just opposite her, leaving the door slightly cracked to let Peter listen in. And then she just…waited, wanting Morgan to be able to talk when she felt ready. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry I ruined your introduction."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"I do!" she cried, her voice cracking with pent-up emotion. "I knew I'd blow it today! I don't know why I ran, but as soon as you brought him online I…I couldn't do it. And after all you and Harley did— this was all for me and I can't ever—"

"Hold up," MJ interrupted. "Yeah, this might've started as your gift, but this is also for everybody else here too. Everyone here except for me had the honor to know your dad for a significant amount of time longer than you. Think about Rhodey, his oldest friend in the world. Or Happy to have been serving him for that long? To give them the chance not only to talk to him but see the best version of him we could make? It's healing. It gave them something."

"But I wanted it so bad." Morgan paused for a moment, wiping her cheeks on her sleeve. "I just… the last thing I remember about him before this was that projection in the helmet. I remember feeling really confused— I knew he wasn't there with us but when he ended the video and disappeared, it just…didn't feel real."

MJ assured her, "That's trauma, talking, Morgan. The last time you saw him, he was saying goodbye to you. It's instinctive that you'd fear it again."

She looked up at MJ, lower lip quivering as she whispered, "You said this version isn't actually him, and I know you're right. What if this too doesn't feel real enough?"

For once, MJ was at a total loss for words. Her eyes flitted up to Peter, watching them from the doorway. He nodded and slowly opened the door.

"Morgan?" he said hesitantly, but before he could say anything else, she leapt to her feet and buried her face in his collar. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy…hey, it's okay…" he cooed as he held her close.

Harley immediately came in alongside them, laying a gently hand on her shoulder and led the sorrowful girl into his embrace. Peter fully opened the door, beckoning the others inside.

"Morg', we didn't mean to overwhelm you with this," Harley murmured. "This was supposed to be happy."

"I am happy," Morgan's muffled voice sounded from Harley's shoulder.

"Yeah, sure looks like it."

She laughed through her tear as she pulled away, sniffling as Pepper laid a comforting hand on her back. "I'm sorry," she said to all of them. "I don't know why I ran. I'm sorry I ruined it."

"Sweetheart," her mother said, wrapping her arm around her shoulder, "Nothing could ruin this day, least of all you."

"Yeah, kiddo," Happy echoed. "Nobody's upset with you at all."

"Hey, maybe' today's not the day," Peter offered. "Maybe we try another day."

"Or not at all, if you want," MJ added. "If you don't want it, everyone's had their moment with him. You can go back to what you're comfortable with."

"But you worked so hard—"

MJ considered this. "Yeah. I did. But I'm used to working hard and chucking it all away right after. An artist's job ends when they put the brush down. We don't control what happens after that."

Morgan wiped away fresh tears. "But everybody's here—when will that ever happen again?"

"Don't worry about that, Morgan," Rhodey said. "You can't base your life on the schedules of other people."

"Yeah, ever if I can't be here physically, you know I'm alway a call away," Harley reminded her.

"Yep. And I don't have a lot going on nowadays. I'll happily just…show up," Happy said, delivering some much-needed levity to the room.

"Point is," Pepper said, still holding her daughter. "We can still have an amazing day. On your terms."

"Just maybe…outside this tiny shed? That's a first step," Rhodey gently teased.

MJ ached at seeing Morgan shoulders still tense. She naturally wanted Morgan's feedback above all others, but would never sacrifice that at the sake of her comfort. But something the girl had said harkened back to a dangerous idea MJ felt she had planted in her head and needed to be rectified. She eyed the holo-table that she and Harley had pushed in the corner, seeing its familiar red interface hovering: Tony had been there the whole time.

She edged closer to Morgan, placing herself at the door before they made their way outside. "There's one last voice that I think you should hear from to know it's okay. Morgan, I was wrong. You proved me wrong. He's more than a program. And I'm sorry I ever questioned it."

"No, I know," Morgan said. "You don't need to be sorry."

"Okay," MJ said, putting her hands up. "Then I'm going to need you to just listen. Don't turn around, just…listen."

Morgan's breath caught in her chest as she realized MJ wasn't referring to listening to her own voice in the discourse, but her father's. This was confirmed as the room suddenly grew more illuminated and all eyes in the room shifted to just above her head.

"Morguna," Tony's voice gently sounded behind her. With her back to the hologram, Morgan could only stare straight ahead as her eyes filled with tears. "You know I always told you I'm here until you want me gone. I won't fight. I'm just around for as long as you need me. I can see your beautiful, smiling face every day for as long as I'm around, and that's all that counts for me. You can turn around if you want to, or if not, just say the word and I will delete this entire hologram. It's totally your call."

Her breath still tight in her chest, Morgan's eyes met her mother's who nodded encouragingly. Then, slowly, inch by inch, Morgan began to turn back toward the center of the room. MJ instinctively found and clasped Peter's hand, and he tightly squeezed hers back as the rest of the onlookers held a collective breath, waiting for the girl's response.

Her eyes were downcast until she had fully turned around, and then slowly traced up the form of the hologram until landing on her father's face. He beamed. "Hey," was all he said.

Morgan smiled the widest smile MJ had ever seen, taking a shaky intake of air as she said, "It's really you!"

"It's really me."

Peter and MJ's grip on each other's hand tightened as they watched Morgan near the hologram. He cocked his head to the side and regarded her with such pride in his eyes. For quite some time they were content to say nothing, slightly mirroring each other's movements and breathily laughing at the sheer wonder that science had allowed for them both to occupy the same space. Grinning, Morgan looked to MJ and Harley and merely whispered, "Thank you so much."

Eight more sequenced projectors out on the lawn enabled to Harley and MJ to have Tony projected on the outdoor lawn once the sun dipped behind the house and be among them that fall evening. Tony was the center of it all, bouncing between projectors to teleport back-and-forth between his loved ones in but an instant: Sharing a quiet moment with Pepper on the porch, getting into a heated debate with Rhodey, laughing alongside Happy and Morgan. It was the time with Morgan he savored the most. He walked with her by the lake to the edge of the projectors' limits and back again, simply talking and the entire time she kept her gaze fully planted on him, as though if by looking away he'd suddenly be gone.

Though MJ circulated at times throughout the evening alongside Peter, she mostly felt content to watch the hologram she designed from a lawn chair. She smiled as she saw Tony get pulled away from drinks with the cohorts he had known the longest on the porch by the "kids" to do some intense study of a piece of tech Harley and Morgan had procured from the shed. Tony frowned upon seeing it, motioning them to bring it closer to him for better inspection. He then began gesticulating wildly to tell them how to modify the device.

Peter left the group to join MJ from her vantage point. "You okay over here by yourself?"

"I'm not being antisocial, I swear, I'm just…admiring." she said, with a smile. "I'm…I'm doing great." She genuinely meant that for the first time in a long time.

Peter pulled up a chair of his own beside her and laid a hand on her knee. "I don't want you coming with me to anymore Parker Industries meetings," he said.

Even though MJ was stunned by this move, proving that Peter had taken her unhappiness with her role to heart, she scoffed, "Wait…are you firing me?"

He laughed. "Yes, Michelle. You're hereby fired."

She asked sincerely, "And what would you have me do?"

"Whatever you want," he said. "Go back to school, see the world…maybe open a holographic design ward at Parker Industries…?"

MJ chuckled, then laid her hand atop Peter's. "Thank you," she said.

"No," he replied. "Thank you." And MJ knew he meant that gratitude for far more than Tony's hologram.

"Hey, Pete!" cried Harley from across the lawn. "You gonna help with this egg rocket, or what? This launcher was your idea!"

Tony also shouted at him, "Peter, what that actually means is that Harley is somehow competent enough to bring me to life, yet can't figure out a basic catapult."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gimme a sec!" Peter called back. He turned to MJ. "You wanna go shoot some eggs into the sky?"

MJ hesitated. "You go ahead. I'll be along in a bit." Peter stood and leaned down to kiss her again.

"PETE," shouted Harley, interrupting the moment. He groaned and jogged over to the impatient launch team. MJ watched them fiddle with the device for a moment, then let her eyes wander at the happiness she had had a part in creating. She wondered if there wasn't a way for her to salvage some of that within her own family. Her hand reached down to her back pocket, unlocked her phone and began typing in her mom's phone number. She took a deep breath, her thumb hovering over the green "call" icon.

Before she pressed down, she heard Morgan say, "Dad, where you going? I need you here!"

"Just a minute, Morguna. Gotta have a chat with my creator."

She looked up to see the hologram approaching her. He quickly raised his eyebrows and smiled from one side of his mouth. "Hey, AO."

"Hey, A.I.," she replied.

He stopped a few paces away, looping his thumbs around his belt loops as he too surveyed his house and all of his many loved ones surrounding him. "You done good, kid. You did way more than you ever had to."

"I wanted to," she insisted.

"Nevertheless…it's appreciated. You made some people really happy. And I hope you got something out of it too."

MJ considered this, then nodded slowly. "Yeah…I really did."

Tony paused a moment, then abruptly moved on with a quick clap of his hands as he started to pace. "So! About the first system upgrade. I'm thinking I need a casual look, but also to spice things up with some variety in the suit department… maybe Saint Laurent? I've been thumbing through their newest line in my spare time, of which I have copious amounts nowadays. I'm also clearly going to need to have formal wear, so I'm thinking royal blue tux? Loud, I know, but I think with my semi-transparent figure, I could pull it off. Thoughts?"

"Tread lightly, Stark. 'Cause I am totally capable of making you that tux…that will glitch out uncontrollably and suddenly turn into a toga."

He pointed at her. "That's a threat. I feel threatened." He then called to the others, "She's threatening me!"

"Hey," MJ interrupted him. She stood and looked at him earnestly. "In all seriousness, I owe you an apology."

He cocked his head to the side. "For what? I did nothing but antagonize you."

She held up her phone, showing him her impending phone call to reconnect with her mom. "You antagonized me into taking action."

Tony looked genuinely proud of her, offering a warm smile as he said, "I'll leave you to it then," and wandered back toward Harley, Peter, and Morgan. "Hey geniuses!" he called to them. "Try unscrewing it from the top. That usually results in fewer dismembered fingers, in my experience. Just a thought. Honest to god, three brilliant minds and yet not a single one with any common sense…"

Alone, MJ took a deep breath to calm her racing nerves. On the count of three, she pressed the call button and held the speaker to her ear, her pulse intensifying as she heard the dial tone once…twice…

"Hello? Michelle?"

MJ smiled. "Hey, mom."

Thanks for reading along and suggesting these scenes, everybody! That's a wrap on this story - I loved writing and sharing it and hearing your feedback!

ILY3k, JJJ