Prompt: Morgan is jealous of Peter

Morgan doesn't care about Peter. Not at first. All she cares about is that her daddy went somewhere with those people who had come and visit and now he's in a hospital bed covered in bandages missing an arm and she's so scared…and for a long time, he doesn't wake up.

When he does, he blinks at her for a moment, then holds out his arm, and she crawls from her mom's lap, sobbing into his neck as he holds her. "It's okay. It's okay, baby. I'm here. I'm okay."

Her mommy is crying too and for a while, they all just sit together. He's been asleep for two whole days and all she wants is for him to hold her. Forever. And he seems to be fine with that too. When her mommy starts to pull her away, she shakes her head and cries and grips her father as tightly as she can, not wanting to hurt him but too terrified to leave.

"Morguna…." He murmurs after a moment. "Hey…look at me." She does, still not letting go. "I'm okay. I promise. I know this is scary, but I'm okay. It's all over now, I promise. Everything is okay now."

She hears him ask about Peter a few minutes later…she's almost asleep against his chest, but she still hears him. "Where's Pete?" He sounds worried, and immediately she's scared again…but she doesn't know anyone named Pete. Is he going to leave her? Is he going away again to find someone named Pete?

"He and May were staying at a displacement shelter until Happy picked them up and took them to the tower." Her mom tells him. "He wanted to visit, but he was afraid of imposing.

Her dad laughs but it sounds sad. "Think Happy can bring him over?"

"Of course."

Morgan is leaning against his side a few hours later, watching cartoons on her dad's tablet and eating a snack when there is a soft knock at the door. Her father starts to sit up, and she turns to find a man in the doorway. He is pale, and he looks sick. There are bruises on his face and he looks so afraid…but when he sees her dad, he smiles, and before she knows it, her mom has picked her up and is holding her while the man leans over, hugging her dad for a long time.

And that's when she feels it. A hot flash of jealousy. She wants to be held by her dad. He's crying and hugging the man and pressing a hand to the back of his head and kissing his hair…he's saying that he loves him so much and asking if he's okay and Morgan turns her face away, tears filling her eyes.

"Mr. Stark…I…I thought…"

"I'm okay, Pete. It's alright."

"Your arm…"

"Never liked that one much anyway."

That's how her daddy is supposed to talk to her. Not him. Not this man she doesn't know. After a moment, he pulls away, but her dad keeps a hand on his cheek, looking at him like he loves him…like he looks at her. And she hates it.

"I never…I never thought I'd get to see you again."

"I'm sorry…."

"Don't. This wasn't your fault. No way."

"If I'd gotten the gauntlet off of him…"

"Stop." Her daddy orders softly, a thumb rubbing over his cheek. "I don't care. None of it. I just… I love you, kid. I'm so…Pete…I had to get you back. I love you so much." And he hugs him again.

That's when Morgan gets it. Her daddy is hurt because of Peter. She turns her face into her mom's shoulder She hates him.

"I'm sorry…hi, Miss Potts."

"Hi, Peter." Her mom reaches out and touches the hand that Peter holds out to her. "It's actually Mrs. Stark now, but I wish you'd just call me Pepper."

"Right…sorry." The man says sheepishly. "Hi, Pepper."

"And this is Morgan." Her mom introduces. And Morgan knows that she's supposed to say hi and that she should wave or something, but she hates him and she just wants her daddy and she wants him to leave. So she's silent.

"Morgan?" Her dad asks after a minute, prompting. She turns to glare at Peter and realizes that he isn't old like her dad or the other people that had visited. He looks younger than that…but still practically a grown-up. His eyes are red-rimmed but he's smiling at her and she hates him no matter how happy he is to see her.

"Hi, Morgan. It's nice to meet you. I'm Peter."

The words are out before she can think about them. "It's your fault my daddy's hurt."

The reaction of her parents is immediate. "Morgan!" Her mom cries, voice sharp, and she immediately starts crying. Her father's jaw drops, but then his eyes are on Peter, and it's his reaction that makes her feel the worst. Peter has gone pale, mouth open, eyes huge, and he's backing away from her, hands shaking. "Peter…" Her mom starts, but he shakes his head.

"I…I'm sorry I…"

"Peter…" Her father begs, reaching out his good arm, but he can't get out of bed.

"No she…she's…I'm so sorry…I…"

And then he runs, slipping past her and her mom and out the door…and Morgan should be happy. She should be glad that he's gone, but she's crying too hard to feel any of it.

"Here." Her mom murmurs, placing her on her dad's bed. "I'm going to find him."

Her dad pulls her close with his one good arm, rocking her until she can stop crying, and then he pulls away a little, face solemn and sad. She's sure he's going to be angry…but she doesn't know what to say. Doesn't know how to fix any of this when something so awful happened to her father and she just doesn't understand.

"Do you know what happened?" He asks softly, not sounding mad. She shakes her head, wiping her face with her fist. He brings his hand up, wiping her tears gently with his thumb. "Do you know that I used to be Iron Man?" She nods. "Well…before you were born, there was a bad guy. A really big, mean bad guy. And I tried to stop him from hurting people with some other superheroes." She nods again. She knows that her daddy had a big important job before she was born, but nothing else. "But I couldn't stop him. He won."

"The bad guy won." She whispers.

"Yeah. The bad guy won. And…and he made a lot of people disappear."

"Like a magic trick?"

"Yeah. But a really bad one. And I didn't know how to make them come back. Some of the people were my friends. And one of them was my…was Peter. He was a superhero too."

She pauses at that, eyes widening. "He was a superhero?"

"He was Spiderman, and he helped me a lot." He swallows. "I never wanted to talk about him before because…because it made me sad." Her father tells her, more serious than she's ever seen him, and she realizes that he's talking to her like she's a grown-up. It makes her feel important…makes her feel like a big girl. But she also hates that he's so sad. "I missed him. He was…he was like my son."

She frowns at that. "So…is he my brother?"

He gives a weak smile. "Yeah. He sort of it. You know how Uncle Rhodey is like my brother, but we're not really related?" She nods. "Well, Peter is like that."

"Oh." She whispers, eyes dropping. She had hurt her brother's feelings. He'd been so sad because of what she'd said…he'd started crying. "I didn't mean to make him cry…I didn't know I could make a grown-up cry." She admits softly.

"Peter isn't a grown-up. He's only sixteen." Her father tells her. "Still a kid. And…it's really scary for him. He…he was scared. When the bag guy made him disappear." She thinks her father might cry then, and she wraps her fingers around his wrist. "I…I want you to meet him. I think he'll be a really good big brother."

She nods, ashamed of herself for being mean but not knowing how to say it. Instead, she sniffs a little. "I was scared…when you wouldn't wake up."

"I know, baby." He murmurs, leaning in and kissing her cheek. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you were scared. But the bad guy is gone now." He wipes her cheek again. "We're all safe."

She is quiet for a moment as she tries to figure it all out…as she tries to understand these horribly adult things. Finally, she meets his eyes. "Can I say sorry?"

He smiles, nodding. "Yeah. I think that's a good idea."

The second time Peter comes into the room, he looks worse. Still pale. Still sick looking. But his eyes are even redder and he gives the room a weak, sheepish smile. "I think I'd better go…" But before he can finish, Morgan hops off the bed and hurries over, throwing her arms around his waist and pressing her head against his stomach.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad. I didn't know you were my brother."

The room goes silent, and she wonders if she's done something wrong, but then a hand lands on her shoulder, another hugging her back just a little. She looks up at him then, and he's giving her a confused smile. "Your…your brother?" He asks, like he's making sure. She nods.

"Yeah. My big brother. Right?" She asks, suddenly unsure. He kneels down then so they're face to face, face going soft, and he kind of looks like her dad then. Like he's made a decision. Like he loves her.

"Right." He agrees, and she hugs him again, this time resting her head on his shoulder. Behind her, their dad sniffs, and she glances around to see her mom holding his hand, the two of them watching her and Peter with looks she doesn't understand. Grown-ups are hard to understand sometimes…but she thinks that her new big brother might be able to help her figure them out.