Tony
Tony hears voices at a distance, and he fights his way toward them as though he's reaching through a black hole.
"Uncle Steve, is he gonna wake up soon?"
"They said it should be any minute now. There was a slight complication with his half of the surgery, but they were able to stabilise him in time. Just needed a little more attention."
"That nurse Carter is cute, Uncle Steve. And I already checked, she's single."
"I already have my best girl, Nat."
"Yes, but I'm going to be going to university soon. Two grown, hot, single men living alone in a huge tower? That's just a waste. Come on, Uncle Steve. You've done the whole "guilt-penance" thing long enough. Please. For me?"
"She any good at sponge baths?" Tony manages to mutter.
"Daddy!" he hears Natasha squeal. "How're you feeling?"
"Terrific. Like I got the guts ripped out of me." He sees Natasha frown at his brilliant joke, then groans. "I need a cheeseburger…"
"Yeah, that's not going to happen for a while," Steve informs him.
Tony expends the energy to pout in his general direction.
"Now, that's downright un-American of you, Rogers."
Natasha grabs his hand, and he can see her sitting in a wheelchair beside his bed. He squeezes and smiles. She smiles back, then stares down at the bed.
"You were right about Nick, Daddy. Well, so was I. Turns out, he really did want me to travel around the world. He just kept mentioning all the things we could see and do… with Stark resources."
"Hmm." Tony moans, patting her hand. "He saw an opportunity and he took it. His morals might be a bit skewed, but he risked his life to save my baby girl when it mattered. Tell him I'll write him a check and a reference, and he can see the world with my blessing."
Natasha nods with a frown, but then her mouth quirks up in that small, sly smile of hers.
"He is a good guy. He just tries to hide it sometimes."
Steve helps Tony sit up when he sees him struggling.
"Well, this family might know something about that."
Natasha looks between the two, then focuses on Tony and sighs loudly.
"Look. I'm sorry you felt you had to lie to me all this time, Daddy. And Uncle Steve. Though I understand why you did. Growing up was confusing enough with all the Full House references Sam, Rhodey, and Darcy made. Now we can add Reba and My Two Dads in, and I'll be the complete poster child for a half-hour sitcom."
"I gotta stop letting Steve introduce you to old shows."
"But we're working down a list! Next, we're supposed to watch SOAP, then Benson, then the Nanny."
He stares at the two of them, one eyebrow raised.
"What?" Steve asks.
"No Welcome Back, Kotter?"
Natasha smirks.
"We finished that one already. And I gotta say, I'm so confused!"
Tony laughs, then grimaces.
"Of course, you focus on the absurd while recovering from major surgery. I don't know where you get that from."
"Cheeseburger," Steve coughs into his fist, putting both hands on the armrest of his chair and looking innocent when Tony glares at him.
"Probably from you," Natasha reasons, serious for once.
Tony stares at her, and she stares back at him. He glances at Steve, then looks back at Natasha and breaks out in a wide grin.
"Yeah. Probably from me."
She huffs, then looks down again at where she's holding his hand clasped in hers.
"So… I wanted to mention… I love my mom, Dad. So much. But I never knew her. Not like you did. But I do know Emma, and I love her, so that's okay, too."
Tony's face goes tight, and Steve looks confused.
"What are you talking about, Nat?"
She gets a smug look as she raises an eyebrow at her father.
"Daddy didn't want you and me to know he and Emma Frost eloped 5 years ago. That's where he goes every time one of his business trips "gets extended."'
"How did you-"
"I know things, Dad. Get used to it."
"Sometimes I forget how much you scare me, Kiddo."
Natasha beams, quite pleased with herself.
Steve darts a look at Tony, who suddenly finds his IV very fascinating.
"Tony, you sly- seriously?! Five years?!"
He shrugs, then realises what a mistake that was and hisses through his teeth.
"Look, let's not make this a thing. A bigger thing. We've known each other forever; our kids are getting older and are getting ready to leave soon. I still miss Pepper, and I always will, but Em and I started hanging out more every time Bruce and Rhodey sent me to conferences with her company, and we realised it would be beneficial to our kids, and our companies as it turns out, if we… had a bit of insurance. In case anything happened to either one of us."
He ignores the look of hurt that flashes in Steve's eyes, more worried about the glint in Natasha's.
"Janet, Rhodey, and Bruce are more than capable of handling SI, and Uncle Steve would have gotten custody and taken care of me, and you know that."
Tony raises an eyebrow at her, fighting back a smirk of his own.
"Which means that was the excuse you gave because… you love her," she teases dramatically.
Tony rolls his eyes and huffs.
"I… Fine. Yes. I do, if you must know. We complement each other. She's intelligent and sarcastic and capable, and is never afraid to put me in my place, but that doesn't mean-"
"Does that mean she's moving in?" Natasha asks eagerly.
"It means she hadn't really gotten over Scott's passing when we eloped, so I'm letting her set the pace, however slow it may be. But, we have discussed living together full-time once you and Kitty graduate. And, she is coming here to check in on me once her plane lands tomorrow."
Natasha squeals, and Steve is still shaking his head in shock when they hear a knock at the door.
It's Nurse Carter, who closes the privacy screen around Tony as she goes over some exercises he'll need to do and checks his bandages. When she re-opens the curtain, Tony is back in bed and she starts asking questions efficiently, typing the necessary information in his chart and not looking up from her tablet.
"I've been told you are single, and you work with struggling veterans," she suddenly says in the same efficient tone she's been using.
Tony and Natasha both leer at Steve, who has just realised she was addressing him. As usual, his tongue seems to tie in knots and his face goes bright red when faced with a beautiful woman.
"He's also an artist and owns a rescue dog," Tony offers, trying unsuccessfully not to chuckle.
"Yes," Steve stammers awkwardly. "I call him Thor. Well, I named him Thor, because Tony got a cat named Loki and where there is a Loki there is always Thor, and-"
"And he wanted to know what time you get off tonight," Natasha mercifully cuts him off, a wide grin on her face even as she shakes her head in a familiar disappointed gesture.
Nurse Carter raises an eyebrow.
"I have a double shift tonight," she informs the room. Steve nods, his face falling dejectedly.
"But I'm free tomorrow evening," she continues, writing something on a small pad. "You can call me after 6 and we'll meet up for supper." And she gives him her number.
Steve is still trying to stutter out a reply, when Tony says, "He's looking forward to it, nurse Carter."
She winks at Steve as she turns to walk toward the door.
"Call me Peggy."
"I know how to dance now!" he calls out eloquently as soon as she leaves the room, and Natasha and Tony actually face-palm, groaning for reasons that have nothing to do with their surgeries.
Once Emma comes by, she has Tony and Natasha moved to a joint room in her private wing of the hospital, and Tony's eyes don't stop following her the entire time she is there, making Steve and Natasha trade looks and grin. After assuring her that things were going well, Tony tells her to go home with Kitty and come back when she can. She stays until visiting hours are long over, and long after Steve nervously had left for his date.
The next day, there is once again a knock on the door. It's the boy from the night of the accident who had been talking to the police, a bandage around one arm and a fading bruise on his face.
"Hey!" the teenager calls after he has let himself in.
"Oh! Hi!" greets Natasha, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear self-consciously.
He's holding a single white carnation in his hand, and he thrusts it at her.
"Here."
She takes it from him with a soft smile, looking at it reverently before gazing up at him.
"It's beautiful," she says, bringing it to her nose to smell.
He beams, sticking his un-bandaged hand in his pocket as he nods a greeting to Tony and Steve, then focuses back on Natasha.
"How are you doing?" he asks sombrely.
She sniggers. "Better than my dad," she points to Tony, who is still stuck laying flat as his body tries to heal.
He snorts out a laugh at that, shaking his head and grinning after.
Then she continues to gaze into his eyes as she says, "Dad, Uncle Steve, this is Clint. He's the one who pulled Nick and me from the car and called the ambulance."
Seeing the way the young man who seems like nothing but trouble stares at their daughter, and seeing the way their daughter stares back at him, Steve and Tony glance at each other, then simultaneously cross their arms, putting up a united front once again.